Bruce Pennington

Sweet! Trystan, does the paper mention the stamp? I don't doubt it, but have a hard time seeing it. In support, all the "TA" stamped blades from Niigata, so far, are star-stamped. Great find!! @John C chart updated Guys might as well welcome John to the research team! We have many who conscientiously whach out for us in our survey efforts, and I'm honestly honored. John is jumping in with both feet.

@Stegel @Shamsy A wooden handled version:

Found one of the 'standard' late-war kabutogane on this frankenstein: Could be a pieced-together very late war gunto, or just a Bubba-job post war. It's missing a tsuba, but he seppa has what's left of a leather retention strap: so it would imply the wooden saya came with the sword. Making it worse, though, is the blade is a Showa-stamped Yoshimitsu. The Showa stamp died off by 1942, so if this was a late-war monster, the blade would have had a re-fit at the end of the war.

John, Check your PM's on that. I didn't realize that there might be others wanting to track the progress on the chart. I suppose I could post the latest on a regular basis, like quarterly maybe. Here's the current one: kiipu-mantetsu serial numbers (rev1).docx

Thanks John, glad to have another researcher on the team! I agree with @SteveM, the 766 is a 1943 blade. With that in mind, the kana is more likely a FU　フ, not a RA. With random marks, scratches, and corrosion a FU and RA can easily be mistaken for one another. So, I'm logging this down as a 1943 FU 766. Also, @John C - does he say whether it is a Koa Isshin? 2. I do already have the YA 710 on record. 3. The 125 is a HO like Thomas said, and is already on file too. But your bringing it up has caused me to discover that a ?122 I have on file from a poorly posted oshigata, is actually from this HO 125! So, @Kiipu and @BANGBANGSAN, I'm deleting the "?122" in the unknown column of the 1939 year.

Thanks for the update, Gareth! I think you’re right about it being a private order, or possibly it was sold through one of the many private shops. No worries about response time. The home life is first priority.

Welcome to NMB Shad! I'm curious about the habaki. Has a unique shape to it, and one side seems ro have an "8" or some sort of pattern? Can we get some cloe-ups of the habaki?

Gareth & Thomas - thanks for the update! Nice discoveries.

Excellent! Thank you henri-joël. Very creative!

Ha! Yes, it’s been fun chasing this stuff around. I have to say, though, that I’m sort of just the ‘pretty face’ on these efforts, while the lion’s share of the research and digging comes from the guys here at NMB.

The last blade I have on file with the SMR logo is Spring 1939 N 574. The rest all went over to the Koa Isshin slogan. The company used the logo on all sorts of things like silverware, watches, even manhole covers, but on swords, the Koa Isshin slogan took over completely, until much later, when that was abandoned.

Yes, I missed out on a sword once for the same reason. A guy even asked for the specific location of the antique shop I found it in. Admittedly, I didn't have the money at the time, so no harm, no foul.

Thanks John, appreciate it! Interesting note, that NA 574 is, so far, the last blade made in 1941 we have on file.

Gareth, Many Akihisa blades have numbers stamped on the nakago. Any on yours? If so, pictures Please?

And the article states he registered RJT a Wakabayashi Shigetsugu, so it would seem logical (don't know how strictly it would have been followed) to think his star-stamped blades would be under that name, not Shigefusa.

A butterfly. Posted by Helmetbuyers at this Wehrmacht-Awards thread.

@Okan Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate the clarity. No offense taken good man. Steve, I think most of your posts would be better spent on the military forum, as most of these are military gunto. There aren’t as many nihonto guys over there, but there are enough to help you for the occasional gunto that has one in it.

@SteveM @Kiipu @BANGBANGSAN Could I get a translation of the green painted kanji above the "515" on this blade? A bit unusual for text on these painted numbers.

Don't know current wait times, but I waited 18 months before my Mantetsu got in. And considering Brian's post concerning Current Spate of Mail Thefts of swords coming back/to the USA from Japan, I'd think twice about sending to them and go for a US polisher.

I quite agree. I've run into the same issue with some of my posts. People are free to read or not read whatever they like. So, if someone doesn't like the content .... move along folks! I'm glad you posted it, as it has the dots, or punch marks at the end of the nakago that I am tracking. And in my opinion (I know, opinions are like butt holes, everyone has one and they all stink! Ha!) there is no such thing as a 's..t sword' especially if it a gunto. History, people. Lives lost, families destroyed. Millions of people globally affected. Honor, loyalty, bravery, comradeship, and on I could go. These pieces represent a lot more than what simply meets the eye. Ok, I got my rant in for the day!

Lee, That's a cheap price for a contingency model officer sword, especially one with that very rare anchor mon. This gunto has been up for sale on 3 different occasions over the years, that we know of on NMB. It's been discussed on a thread HERE. I'm posting a couple of photos for when the sale link goes dead.

Thanks Trystan! The only RJT Shigefusa I find reference to is Kojima. Wakabayashi is discussed in Slough & Sesko without mention of RJT work. So, I say this was from Kojima Shigefusa. Boy that zodiacal dating, without having the Showa written first, throws me every time!

O M G! That is one gorgeous rig!

That nakago sure seems long! Is the gunto extra long, too?

Could be 13, 16, or 18, but I'm going to go with 13.