Bruce Pennington

Ok, right. No, it's the Navy's inspector for the Tenshozan factory. Simply called the Tenshozan stamp. I can see how Kamakura gets into the discussion, though, as I believe the factory was located there.

Thanks Roger! Surprisingly, that is actually the larger of the two sizes. The small Seki is even smaller than that! It is my opinion that these larger Seki are found on nicer quality showato. I like the hamon on yours! We're fairly certain the stamp was the approval mark of the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. We have documented proof they began their quality inspections using the Showa stamp. But for some reason, not known, they seem to have transitioned to the large Seki stamp. They stopped using it when the Nagoya Army Arsenal inspector for the Seki area started using a smaller version of their stamp in 1943, so there was some overlap. In '44 we see the Gifu in Sakura stamp pop up, which I believe was the Seki Cutlery Assoc coming up with another unique stamp for themselves after losing control of the Seki image.

I would consider Tom's, @drb 1643, opinion on these. He's gone into a great deal of research on them.

Roger, Could you show a photo of the Seki stamp in a broader view? The enlarge close-up makes it look like a large stamp. There were both large and small Seki stamps found in 1943, so I'd love to get a wider shot to see which one it is.

Agree with Conway

And they are, as far as we know, put there to match up the custom fitted parts during the production process.

Well, everything I know about Type 94s I learned from John, PNSSHOGUN. So this conversation covers it all. 98s didn't have double haikan, period. So, this is a 94. I just posted it because it's exceptional (in my understanding) with the offset chuso. Like we all know - Never say 'never' nor 'always' with WWII gunto"!

Here's the barrel

My next dilemma is - a "6" or an upside down "9"!!! The 3 on my tsuka is upside down compared to the kana/number on the other side.

Interesting. Another one of those unlisted Showa era smiths. Thanks again!

Excellent! Thank you my friend! Neither of my go-to name sources have the "zumi" kanji. That's why you guys will never be out of a job!

Got a nice reply from Sofe Auctions: "Sofe Design Auctions has sent you a message Hello Bruce, thank you for your input. will update listing in a bit after contacting consignor (it was "guaranteed to be original") Kind Regards, Sofe ---Original Message--- From : Pennington, Bruce (Invaluable) Sent: Dec 7, 2023, 11:54"

Smart aleck! Ok, here's one. Couldn't find a dedicated Type 94 thread, so posting here. Here's a Type 94 with double haikan and fat tsuba, but offset chuso. Found on this Gunboards Thread. I had been under the impression that all Type 94s had the centered chuso.

Sorry, guys. I tried hard on this one, but I give....! My guess is Kanesada, but I don't find any smiths signing "sada" that way.

Sorry for the bad photo. I'm thinking "Tada-something"? @Kiipu linked to a @Stegel post on this Warrelics Thread.

Might actually lend support to our idea that the 2 stamps are of the same shop, as this may have been a repaired gunto by Kobe.

John, Not understanding your meaning. Isn't "gojuon" the whole katakana grid?

Thomas, What would you say the character is on the right side of this? A "6"? And this whole sword complicates the sequence issue (it has the 伊65 on the nakago), unless our sequences are more accurately counted on the tsuka than on the nakago.

Yes. Don't know how many blades he can do per year. I waited 2 years in line to get mine done. So, here we sit until you update us!

Like Thomas said, this one's legit. Rare to see this in aluminum handle. Usually they are in wooden handles. @Stegel The first one I just posted in the Fake 95 Sword Thread. Good eye, Dan!

Well, shoot! I see it now. I have a strange visual condition with these photos sometimes. I literally see them reversed. It's not all the time, though. Weird. Oh well, at least with have a "Koshirae" thread. I realize there is a "Tosogu" thread already, but that tends to be overwhelmingly nihonto related.

Oh, right. I just wish we had been onto this much earlier, so we could have asked each owner to show the tsuka ends for the markings. After reviewing our previous discussions, I remember that there is a variety of markings that may indicate various 100-series. We have plain numbers We have Anglo - 4/16; 4/45 We have katakana - ヤ, フ, and ス We have katakana and Anglo - ヤ/3/50 We have katakana and Japanese - ヤ/五/66 We have kana - 伊65

Here's a fake copper at this Sofe Auction. I've sent them a message, as I generally like their stuff. Hopefully they will respond. Didn't need to see more than 1 photo, but here's 2:

I don't think we have a dedicated thread to just discuss fittings, when the need arises. If I'm wrong, post a link and we'll use that. Came across something I've NEVER seen before! The sakura and leaves are indented on this koiguchi, rather than raised. They are raised on the fuchi, so don't know what that says. But for your viewing pleasure ( found on this Roland Auction ):

So we have a SU 97 or ス97, which is the last of the IROHA order. Is anyone tracking these katakana? I have this one and a FU 89, フ89, which is in the last half of the order. My memory is fading, didn't someone work out the math of how many IROHA katakana it would take to run through 8747 souvenirs, assuming they start a new kana every 100 swords? Ok, well, that would be 874.7 kana needed. Hmmm.