Bruce Pennington

I remember the discussion about that mei. An interesting read on Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成, 1294 - July 4, 1336) and his legendary proclamation HERE. It didn't dawn on me that this was the origin of the 7 Lives Dojo name, but I'm sure it is what their shop name was referencing, now that you've brought it up!

He did state the Nagasa was 22 inches though.

Not surprising. It is interesting to hear that they are actually using CGI to put the blades into the shot now. Incredible! Not to get off-track, but I'm appalled that studios still use actual guns on sets. I cannot imagine the necessity for that. Even if they want shots with blanks fired, that shot should be taken on a firing range with no one else around. Dumb.

You'll find this one at the bottom of a looooong line of photos on this Chinese site ( compliments of @Kiipu and @BANGBANGSAN): Luoyangong.com page. The first several photos are of a Star-stamped blade by the same smith, working the same forge. Interesting, to me, that the smith Masanaga, was making blades for both the Minatogawa and RJT operations.

Found this Masanaga with a full view (although not a clear, close-up) of the blade, with civil fittings: Making this blade unique, to me, is the forge - 7 Lives Forging Dojo - engraved as part of the mei.

Fabulous! Thank you Morita-san!

Star-stamped blade on this Gunboards Post

Photos added. I don't see anything that points to WWII. Purely a civil sword and fittings, although seeing the nakago could show a blade made during the war... or not. You don't show the covered mekugi. Often it's possible to gently push the ito aside to tap the mekugi out and reveal the nakago. PS: the new iPhone format of .heic doesn't post well on the forums. Take a screenshot of the photo and post that.

Thanks for working this over for me, guys! Nothing definitive. I've had several blades where I was convinced of stamps, but it turned out to be creative corrosion, and my eye seeing something I wanted to be there. Great sword, thanks again!

Geoff, Had to touch base on this one, as I just sat down and re-watched this brilliant piece of work!!! What a masterpiece! Perfect mash-up of the Spaghetti Western and old Japanese Samurai super-hero movies! Something the modern Western movies have been dancing around for decades, Tarantino stopped pretending and blended the 2 genres with a modern flair. Really loved it! Ha! Caught a flash of a Type 98 with tassell (movie prop, I'm sure) carried by one of the Crazy 88 soldiers:

There was. The large Seki stamp was used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association to mark quality showato. They can be found from 1940 to '45, but the massive majority of them are seen in 1942. The Army took control of sword production and oversight in '42, and the Nagoya Army Arsenal inspectors began using the small Seki stamp. For a long time, it has been believed that all acceptance stamps indicated the blades was non-traditional, but we have seen many acceptance stamps, to include the small Seki, on RJT star-stamped blades. So, it's evidence that the arsenal inspector stamps are more likely simply acceptance stamps approving them for the war.

@JustinJustin - Looks like you were trying to show us a mark on the back edge of the tang? Can you enhance that photo? Are there any punch-marks dots near the end of the nakago? Any numbers at the end? There was an RJT Kanemitsu but the blades I have on file are later, like 1944. I realize there were often several smiths working during the war that used the same art name, so this guy might not be the RJT Kanemitsu. Just worth checking for the other markings. Like John said, I have found that the blades stamped with the large Seki stamp, like yours, are quite often really nice blades with great hamon. Maybe they used another steel other than tamahagane, which put them in the "non-traditional" showato category, but they all have the appearance of being made traditionally.

Michael, They are trying to be very careful, and not say that you have a $100,000-$400,000 sword. But what they are hinting at is that you may. You have something very exciting there, and you should be very selective on who you bring it to for polishing.

I am no follower of Tsuba or civil fittings, but I have to say I have never seen an actual jewel on sword fittings. My dad’s Mantetsu was missing several parts, that were stolen in his time in the Marines. He always said that he believed someone stole the metal parts thinking that there were jewels to be found.

I have had it happening on my laptop just as often as on my phone. I have literally gotten up from the table and to get a cup of coffee to wait for the photos to load sometimes. It doesn’t happen very often and I can’t identify when it is going on on a regular basis,

Excellent, thanks Steve!

Is this one Yoshimasa?

"Seki ju xxx xxx Norihiro saku" (something) Norihiro from Seki made this. Do you already know about the Showa stamp at top?

Adding a link to @PNSSHOGUN's post showing a Mantetsu (1941) in fittings with a kiri mon. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/30651-mon-in-unusual-locations/?do=findComment&comment=406333

Dang! I hate it when sellers don't post the serial numbers!!! Quite a rare find, John. One for the files, even without the number!

Your blade is the only Masaharu I have on file, too. I had logged the number as a "6". After thinking about it, usually, the numbers are read with the blade pointing to the left. Is your blade pointed left? If so, I'll change that 6 to a 9.

Adding this from @Volker62's thread Newly Ichi Ryushi in Type 3 Gunto koshirae. I haven't been tracking arsenal stamps on koshirae. I know I've seen plenty of "TO" stamps on fittings. Maybe a "Seki" and a "NA" occasionally. But this is the first "Saka" of the Osaka Army Arsenal I've seen on fittings.

Sorry Trystan, I had that one listed in the Saka chart, but failed to copy it into the Mune Stamps chart. Corrected:

OK! First Saka stamp I've seen on a haikan (ashi)!

Sorry Gareth, I was try to see if David, @tbonesullivan, could check his 2 blades for mune stampes So, for now, all we know for sure is the "阪 or Saka" is the inspector stamp of the Osaka Army Arsenal. I don't have enough blades with this stamp to form a more firm opinion of the numbers, but so far, they are only being seen on RJT blades and Nagamitsu blades. Nagamitsu is an oddball because many of his blades on file aren't star-stamped, even though he was an RJT qualified smith. It's certainly possible his blades were being accepted by Osaka before he became RJT qualified, or another option is that something about his blades did not meet RJT specifications, but they were still acceptable as an Army blade for the war. But the numbers are still a mystery. I think the Arsenal was putting them there, but I don't know if they were tracking numbers of blades by smith, or just numbering blades for the day as they arrived, regardless of smith name.