Bruce Pennington

Uwe, I have one Takehisa recorded with a "Na" on the blade, which would fit this. I can't find him in the NihontoClub database. Do you have anything else on this smith?

Ooo..... need more coffee....Thanks Uwe! Rod, Thanks for the pics! That stamp on the mune is the "TO" of the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal. And if so, COULD date the blade to before WWII. Is there chance of seeing more to the date-side of the blade? And I REALLY would like to have shot of that 46. I'm doing a study/survey of blades with stamped numbers on them. I would really appreciate it!

Yes. Have you posted this gunto in an earlier thread showing a view of them assembled on the blade? If not, then there is another one I saw on an NMB post.

Rod, Akihisa was a respected smith and made many blades for the Army RJT system. Could I please get a photo of the 46? Also, is there more of the date visible? It would be higher, extending above the hole in your second photo. There could also be a star stamped near the top of the nakago (tang). But if it's all under rust, then we won't see it. How about the mounts, and a shot or 2 of the blade showing the hamon?

Found a 1940 Koa Isshin being displayed at the London National Army Museum, online museum. # Chi 128. Strangely their translation said the blade was made by "Okitsugu Isshin" and was made of rail lines in "Britain" .... well read it for yourself. The curator was kind enough to respond to my initial contact and we're getting it straightened out. I'm still a bit shocked that such a prestigious museum would have someone translating swords that clearly doesn't know WWII Japanese swords. I understand how many kanji have multiple sounds/meanings, but this one is pretty bad. Pages provided by the curator: Survey update - Over 250 blades recorded, 237 of them with date, mei, & serial number (the rest are missing serial number or date, etc). Lion's share of blades are in the 1941-1943 years. YEAR 1937 1938 – 12 1939 - 18 1940 - 35 1941 - 55 1942 – 53 1943 – 59 1944 – 16 1945 – 7

Frank, Personally, I think this is likely to be quite a nice blade and may be worth a professional polish. It would be a shame to sell it, unless you are simply not interested in the collecting hobby. The seppa (metal spacers) are unique, I've only seen this style once before - maybe @PNSSHOGUN can refresh my memory where - and the large number of them speaks of a custom job (not to mention the extra verbiage on the nakago!). For $2-300 you can get the handle re-wrapped, but the polish will run over $2,000. But I think this gunto would be worth restoration. And BTW, thanks for posting as the smith's personal kao is one I didn't have in the Stamps of the Japanese Sword document. I've added it to the a newer version that I'll post sometime in the future.

Glad it helped. But I was just passing the phrase along from the wise sage @16k.

Understand the feeling. Just remember, we are simply caretakers for these fine blades as they travel through time!

Also, could I get a clear shot of this area above the date? Is that a stamp? Would also love to see a shot of it in the fittings.

Ryan, I got started in collecting when I inherited my dad's Mantetsu Koa Isshin! PLEASE post a photo of the full serial number on the back edge, please, please! You can start reading about these fabulous blades on Ohmura's free website: http://ohmura-study.net/998.html Plus, @Kiipu, @16k, and I collaborated on an in-depth article describing our NMB discoveries about Mantetsu blades that weren't known when Ohmura-san wrote his webpages. I'm attaching a copy (we should probably get that posted in the Member Article section!) MANTETSU DISCOVERIES.pdf

Ha, no book in the works. Just compiling files on all the RJT blades/smiths I can come across. I do have your name documented on this file though, so if anything like that ever happens, I promise you will be listed as the source. As to whether you should keep or sell, ..... only you can say. My collection has the gunto in it that I wanted for a purpose (I wanted a fair example of each of the services, and each of the variations), so I'll never sell mine. Some guys have more gunto than they really need, so they'll sell some and save for something special. There are a hundred different reasons guys keep or sell. That's going to depend on your collecting goals.

The RJT Kanetaka is the only one listed on the Nihonto Club Swordsmith listings. Of course, I have come across a smith, here or there, that wasn't on their list, but I've often seen where there were 3-5 guys that went by a same name and they were all listed. This name only has one guy listed, so my money is on the RJT one. https://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/list?id_op=%3D&id=&name_op=contains&name=kanetaka&kanji_op=%3D&kanji=&province=All&start_era=245&school_nid=All

Thanks Steven! June 1943 to be exact, and you've just provided the only month missing in my survey for 1943! I had blades from every month of that year except June, and now I do, thanks to you! So, you have "bragging rights" if you want to claim them as the only "known" blade inspected by the Nagoya Arsenal in June of '43.

Steven, Could I beg photos of the date and the "Na" stamp for my Stamp Survey? Good luck with the sale!

Sometimes photos are better to work with, here, than video. A still shot of the mei, full nakago, full blade, closeups of the hamon and blade tip. These can be studied at length, where a video just goes by these too quickly.

Like to see a couple of pics of the hamon, though, Richard. I've grown to believe the large Seki stamp went on nice quality non-traditonal blades. Also a full pic of the gunto mounted up, would be nice.

Steve, Some fabulous reading and pictures to get started on understanding your gunto: Ohmura's "Military Swords of Imperial Japan" website. And a great resource for vocabulary and almost anything else you would need to know about Japanese swords: Rich Stein's "The Japanase Sword Index." If you find an small stamps closer to the handguard (tsuba), and you may have to remove the tsuba to see it, or on the back edge of the tang (nakago), please post pictures!

Interesting point Marcus made about the population at the time - "It is estimated that the samurai class made up about 10% of the Japanese population. In the early Edo period, Japan had a population of about 12,000,000 to 18,000,000 and about steady 30,000,000 from Genroku (1688-1704) to the end of the Edo period. So if we start with 12,000,000, about 2,500,000 swords (daishô, thus times two the 10%) have been worn at any given day in the early, and about 6,000,000 swords throughout the later Edo period. Well, tsuba and sword fittings were of course reused and handed down in the peaceful Edo period but still,..." And I thought 2 million swords made for WWII was a lot!!!

Got to subtract 1: Showa 18 year 9 month is 1926 + 18 - 1 = 1943, September. Sept 1943.

You're right, George. Good example to remind that there are any number of unknown options that may explain what we are seeing. I'll stay neutral on it. Thanks for joining me in this chase!

Thanks guys for the big effort! Uwe, thank you for tackling the article. While not specifically naming the RJT program, I think this sentence likely is referring to the qualifying tests applicants blades must pass to be RJT certified. But without knowing if these 2 smiths were connected to the Matsumoto operation, it isn't a clear piece of evidence for us. A real breakthrough would be a photo of their shop showing a logo, like we see in some shop photos. But these ads do open up the possibility of the stamp being a shop logo. For now, I still lean toward the stamp and numbers being army. Prior to the Army taking over sword production in Japan, we don't see these stamped numbers (except for the zoheito of the late 1800s and even those were likely arsenal numbering). Then, magically, in late 1941, early 1942, ... BOOM numbers, stamps, and kana on blades! Scattered shops, unrelated to each other across a country don't act in harmony like that. It has the appearance of coming from a central authority, like the Army Sword Office. Not to mention the fact that they are almost exclusively on RJT blades. But, I'm open. The evidence will eventually tell us more. Thanks everyone!

Guys, Here's a couple of shop ads and an article about one of them, provided by @george trotter. We're hoping for some quality translating, especially on the article that seems to mention the RJT program. Really appreciate some help. Matsukawa Ad Matsumoto Ad Matsumoto Article

Agree with Marco. You'll find as you get to know more about the Japanese sword, from the very beginning, that smiths often didn't sign their blades. It's called mumei when not signed, and you'll see very old and beautiful blades that are mumei as often as you will see them signed. So, the practice seemed to continue all the way through WWII. It is often said that when rushed, when large quotas must be met, the smiths would skip signing. Sounds plausible. When Japan moved into China for real in the 1930s, and WWII escalated, the demand for swords greatly exploded. Industry had to make advances in mass-production to attempt meeting the needs of the military. Machinery aided in steel making and blade production, but they were always tools. Real people made all the war blades. It's hard to tell from your photos what kind of production was used on your blade. It's not stamped, so there is a good chance it's gendaito, but only the blade can tell, and that from first-hand inspection from an expert. But, well-lit photos and clear close-ups can help guys on the forums make an educated guess sometimes.

Sorry, mixed movies there. Ammad referenced "Saw" and I was hitting on "Chainsaw Massacre" and how dangerous an old Marine could be with a chainsaw in his hand!

Interesting that the Yamagami brothers and Chikafusa were in adjoining prefectures: