Bruce Pennington

Noah, After seeing your detailed pics, I agree with Brian that this is probably an assembly of parts, with what is likely a late-war blade made in occupied territory. All the fittings seem to be legit kyugunto. Like you said, the seppa came from a sword with a latch. If the blade had been a normal Japanese blade, in kyugunto fittings, I would say the oddities were due to field repair. But I believe the blade is more likely "island made," to use common term. The multiple holes mean the blade had been refitted over time, and I'd say the last re-fit was this best-effort, using available parts. I doubt it is fake. There is certainly the possibility that it's a post war assembly, but the age and grime speak of it all being a wartime item. Don't know your collecting goals, but I think it served during the war in an occupied location. But if its not what you expected, the seller might accept a return,

Not in the best of shape, but a nice mon on this habaki posted by @mdiddy HERE:

Matt, is that an extra inscription alongside the date?

This photo may have already been posted, but I'm too lazy to scan back through 33 pages of this thread to find out! From @BANGBANGSAN "This photo was taken at Mantetsu sword factory front gate, kanji on the left says 研磨外裝場（Polish&Fitting Factory), on the right, says 刀劍製作所（Sword Manufacture Factory)

Good one, John, thanks! Masahide, Feb 1805. One of the few smiths (only found 2 so far - Masahide and Sadatsugu) that use both kakihan and kokuin.

Back to the blade.... Guys are saying this, but let me try to paraphrase it all - A WWII smith could have made a blade using any steel, and there were several kinds other than tamahagane. Using this 'other' steel, he could have hammered and folded 13 times. Then, using clay, he made a fabulous hamon pattern. Like Jean pointed out on another thread, he finishes the blade with an oil quench to safely harden the edge. It would come out looking like the blade in this post. Quite beautiful, but made of steel other than tamahagane and it was oil quenched. The tell-tale sign, and I agree with Chris, is if you zoom in on the hamon, you see dark areas just inside the peaks of the hamon. This is one of the key signs to look for when trying to differentiate between gendaito and showato. To me, it is silly to look down upon showato. There are many fabulous blades made with great care, and quite beautiful, that were oil quenched. But in Nihonto-World, this will always be the case. Fortunately for me, I live outside Nihonto-World. Not a snub on Nihonto guys, just an observation and opinion. No offense intended to anyone!

Well said, Jean, thanks! See, I learned something today! Nick, You are right about the painted numbers, they match the stamped numbers on the fittings and were put there during the production process to keep the fitted parts together. The tassel is the blue/brown of a Company grade officer - Lt's and Capt's. And the fittings are the Type 98 Japanese officer sword model. You can read all about them on Ohmura's free site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

Nick, You can read up on these small stamps here - Stamps of the Japanese Sword. All Japanese war blades were made by hand. The high demands for huge numbers of swords during the war drove the industry to use hydraulic hammers and other automated tools. They also used oil quenching, versus water quenching, because it was less likely to create blade flaws. Additionally, they used various steels, rather than the traditional tamahagane. Any combination of these expedited variations from tradition put the "non-traditional" label on a Japanese sword. Assuming there is no date on the other side, the stamp puts your blade in the 1935-1942 range, with the massive majority of them falling in the 1940-41 dates. Many of us would enjoy seeing some shots of the rest of the blades fittings. Looks like a rank tassel there in the background too.

Thanks guys! While browsing to find other examples of a 1-leaf Aoi Mon, I came across this web page showing the line from Ujifusa (1596) and it had 5 other examples of Masakiyo blades with the mon and a couple Yasuyo blades using it. Both were in the line of Ujifusa smiths. http://www.sho-shin.com/shinto-satsuma.html UJIFUSA KEI-CHO 1596 |_________ ___|_____ ___|_______ UJIFUSA MASAFUSA |___________ ___________ ___|_______ ___|_______ ___|_______ _______________ MASAFUSA YASUYUKI YASUSADA OKU TADAKIYO ___|____ ___|_______ ____|____ YASUYO MASAFUSA HIDEOKI ___|_____ |____________ ____________ YASUARI ___|_______ ___|______ ____|______ MASAKIYO KUNIHIRA MOTOSADA ___|________ ____|______ MASACHIKA MOTONAO ___|_______ | MASAHIRA | (MASAYOSHI) | ____________ ____________ _______________| ___|________ ___|________ ___|_______ MOTOYASU MOTOTAKE MOTOHIRA KAN-SEI 1789 |_____________ ___|_______ ____|______ (see SAIKAIDO The Eight Roads - SHINTO) MOTOHIRA MOTOOKI for SHIN-SHINTO SATSUMA lineage ___|_______ MOTOHIRA I don't understand the reason for the 1-leaf, but for now, I'll have to just assume it was a variation, as mon all have multiple variations, and list it as such in the Stamps Doc.

Thanks George! Maybe someone will recognize it. My first thought was something from Buddhist imagery.

Thanks Steve. Appreciate the digging. Sounds like someone concocted a unique name for this blade, reasons unknown. I'll simply log it in, as is. Thanks again!

Any help? @george trotter @mecox @SteveM @Kiipu etc.

George, Forgive my complete ignorance of these things, but I already have this mon filed for Tokugawa: Is there more than one? Or is there a difference between a crest and a mon?

Here are the photos of Ian's blade - @zentsuji2 - It's actually September 1942, so 2 years earlier than the previously recorded blades.

Thanks George, I'll pass it along. If he posts more pics, I'll update here.

Yes. When you read their stories/book of WWII, it was an 8 year war for them! It's interesting that several changes started occurring in '42/'43 like manufacturing regulations, SMR changed their mei, and even inspector stamping procedures. I think the term is used mostly, in Sword-World, though to denote the dramatic changes we see in swords of the final year of the war.

That's the most pristine Iijima stamp I've ever seen! That's going to replace the one I have in the Stamps doc, in the next revision.

I agree, Gilles. It's a fascinating idea, Noah, that the sakura might have been intentionally removed before surrendering it, like the defaced mums on rifles. Dawson's book costs more than Fullers, but it's all in color and has more stuff. Both are essential references. As to the 8 or 19, Dawson says this "Type 8 kyu-gunto scabbards have two suspension mounts. Both mounts are permanently fixed to the scabbard. Type 19s initially also had two suspension mounts, but the lower mount on those is removable. At some time after the introduction of the Type 19s, sword makers began making scabbards with just one suspension mount. As a matter of record, Army Uniform Regulations were amended in 1932 to include the provision that the lower mount be removable on swords produced with two suspension mounts." So, 19s produced before '32 could still have 2 permanent suspension mounts. Like Gilles said, though, the backstrap pattern on yours appears to be quite early, so it's likely an 8.

Sent a PM, Ian. I appreciate getting your blade info. I have some of his from Aug '44, so yours will be the first one from '43 on file.

Just looked at a few Nagamitsu on file, and agree. The nakago and yasurime, or almost lack of it, is classic for his style.

Hey guys. Someone on Gunbards posted this nakago, HERE, and is requesting a translation. Appreciate the help on it! Also, any insight on the emblem carved at the top? I've requested more photos of the whole blade for further analysis.

That's the best Kaneuji hotstamp I've ever seen! It'll be in the next revision of the Stamps of the Japanese Sword document.

Could someone tell me what this mei means? @george trotter helped me understand the "ichimongi", on another blade, to mean the sword was commemorating the reign of an ancient ruler (think it was the 800 anniversary), but this one seems to say something else (I already understand the Yasuki steel part): Seikōsai Ichimonji kore o tsukuru (晴光斎一文字造之) Blade posted by @Michael 67 HERE.

Couldn't get the other photos in that single post:

Thanks Dan, good one! The mune numbers are not rare. I have found them on blades of numerous smiths, almost all of them RJT, or pre-RJT, but this is the first one that was mumei. The large "1" seems, to me, to be some sort of inspector number, while the 100 is some sort of tracking, or serialization. The "1" stamps, and "2", and others often have arsenal stamps, too, like Osaka or Nagoya, even "Ho" of Kokura. So, it isn't exclusive to a single arsenal. Most of them are in RS mounts, like this one.