Bruce Pennington

Hi William, I'm another Colorado collector! Don't know if you're interested in WWII gunto, but a great place to start getting familiar with the look of real Japanese workmanship is Ohmura's fabulous site: Military Swords of Imperial Japan (gunto) and it's completely free!

I agree. I love the larger sakura and the dimpling work. Plus the tsuba is quite thin, giving it an elegant appearance. Evan, thanks for the edge-view of the sayajiri! Haven't ever seen that aspect before, and surprised at the thickness of the drag. I agree with you that it looks 'carried'. The sweaty palm oils in the ito, to me, show it was held quite a bit in someplace hot. My dad's Mantetsu tsuka had the same look.

Steve, I've enjoyed the learning process from all your threads. Not wasted, if you ask me. And many days, there is not much going on anyway.

@chgruener Christopher. I'm posting your photos for future reference. Welcome to NMB! Can you post a clear picture of what looks to be 2 stamps at the top of the nakago (tang)? You can read a ton of stuff for free at Ohmura's website - Military Swords of Imperial Japan (Gunto)

That's a great one, Peter! The skill just amazes me. I can't even draw, with a pencil, anything like this and he's carved it into metal.

Hello Evan! Your fittings were made by the Wakasei Co. of Tokyo. The four stamps are (thanks @Kiipu and @BANGBANGSAN!): 若瀬 = Wakase. The drag, while not 'rare' is a bit unique, and was aparantly made by the Wakasei Co. too. On one side it says roughtly "New 'idea', utility use" + the Wakasei logo, and the other is a patent number 213917 (all from Richard Fuller's book). You can see more like this here: Gunto Tsuba

Yes, to Damascus steel alone says it distinctively.

Reminded me of this one posted by @C Lewis: I think I have another one with the SMR logo on it. It’s on another computer and I will post when I get to it.

Markus Sesko lists these two "Osafune Sukesada": SUKESADA (助定), Bunmei (文明, 1469-1487), Bizen – “Bishū Osafune Sukesada” (備州長船助定) SUKESADA (助定), Daiei (大永, 1521-1528), Bizen – “Bizen no Kuni Osafune-jū Sukesada” (備前国長船住助定), “Bishū Osafune Sukesada” (備州長船助定), student of Hikobei no Jō Sukesada (彦兵衛尉祐定), mostly a chū-suguha-hitsure

Hard to say, Bruno. I personally would put this in the $900-1,200 USD range. Some dealers are asking over $2,000! It's in great condition, so that pushes the pricing toward the higher end of the market.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say "Yoshinao" on the smith name, but I'm 75% wrong on these! Agree with all the above evals.

Thanks, but yes. I have it filed from his original post.

Reminds me of this one posted by @Lareon.

Dang. Sorry to both Chris & Trystan! I don’t know why my brain has melted you two guys together in my head.

Benjamin, I did some explaining in our PM, but the article Trystan posted has the full story of these post-war souvenirs. You are right about the cord coming from the sword bag. These came in a bag when sold at the Army PX, and some were sold by the Japanese Sword Company in Tokyo. You can read about our discovery process in this NMB thread: NLF Gunto Discussion. The painted number on the nakago is Japanese for "16" matching the fittings numbers.

That very well may explain what we are looking at!

It's just a standard basic set of care instructions, Paz, given to all newcomers to the forum. On the Kikumon - I have 6 other Kinmichi blades on file with the chrysanthemum. 3 have and empty, large center: While the other 3 use a flattened, oblong kiku: Only 2 of the large-center blades have dates, 1767 and 1771. Your is the first one I've seen with that 5-petal center, although it's still in the same idea as the 5-pointed star of the oblong kiku style.

You can’t really tell just by the mei.

That's a significant find, Trystan! Now we have Niigata, Nagano, and Gunma prefectures using the Matsu stamp. All 3 clumped together. If they have been scattered, that would say something else, but they are all bordering each other. But WHAT it says, I certainly don't know. Tsugunobu, like many of the others, were switched to the Gunma kana between this sword - Mar 1943 - and the only other kana + number sword we have on him - Jul 1944 - ク705. Here's the updated Matsu chart: Matsu 1941, July Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 106 (RS ana) Slough 1941, Sep Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 249 Type 98 Trotter Survey, no pics 1941, Sep Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 308 Type 98 Trotter Collection 1941, Dec Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 566 RS Model Windy NMB ? Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 61 RS Trotter Survey, no pics ? Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 97 NMB 1942, Feb Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 542 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Apr Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 11 RS Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 422 ? star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 433 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1942, Oct Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 451 RS Davidequis NMB 1942, Dec Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 577 RS star MacTheWhopper NMB 1943, Jan Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 508 T98 star Trotter Survey, no pics 1943, Feb Nagano Kiyokuni (RJT) 松 16 Ray Singer, NMB 1943, Feb Nagano Chikafusa (RJT) 松 20 Bangbangsan, NMB 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 618 RS star Schmucker Collection 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 819 RS star Vajo, Trotter Survey 1943, Mar Nagano Kiyokuni (RJT) 松 16 Guest Rayhan, NMB 1943, Mar Gunma Tsugunobu (RJT) 松 22 RS Star Bangbangsan, NMB RS 1943, May Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 1080 RS star Trotter Collection, イ403 on fittings 1943, May Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 1082 RS star baldi1942 NMB 1943, Oct Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 1377 RS star Trotter Survey, no pics 1943, Nov Niigata Munetoshi (RJT) 松 443 RS star ? NMB

Wow, much better picture! John, I would post your blade on the Nihonto Forum and ask for an age evaluation. They'll need shots of full-length bare blade, along with the close-ups you have of the hamon and hada, full nakago, and a close one of the blade tip. I'd really like to know. Edit: Does the paper state an era for the blade? I've double checked my files and the blades I have recorded with the Dai/Tai stamp, have them on the blade, just outside the habaki, and they have the "江" of the Matsue Supervisory Unit of Kokura Army Arsenal on the mune. The "セ" was used by the 2nd Factory of Kokura Army Arsenal. So, this is starting to sound like a Kokura practice and your blade might have been processed by them during the war. I looked for Sadamori in Sesko's book and the Nihonto Club list, don't see a Showa era smith. But we have seen numerous smiths show up at this forum not on any list. So, I'm leaning toward a Showa era blade, processed by the Kokura arsenal, made by, or for, the 2nd factory. As to who puts the dai/tai stamps there - don't know!

Jonathan, The short answer is no one knows. It is definitely from a specific sword maker because it shows up on several swords and they are all the same style. But we don’t know what the character means, nor do we know for sure if it is made by occupied territories for the Japanese war effort or if it is just out and out fakery. I personally lean toward the idea that it was made in occupied lands for the Japanese war effort. Seeing yours in hand, personally, reinforces that idea for me.

On this side of the proverbial coin, I was initially bothered by the, almost, no taper of the nakago from top to bottom.

As to the blade itself, I’m a really bad one to speak, but I don’t see the telltale signs of a non-traditional blade. I would lean towards traditional on this one. But I have been wrong before!

Nice to hear, thanks for the update! I find it is the chase that is often just as fun as collecting (if not more).