Bruce Pennington

The numbers are believed to be put there by the shop that did the fittings. Since each piece is custom fit to each blade, they mark them all to keep them together during the process. By having all your pieces with the same number, it's nice to know they are all original parts and haven't been switched around by previous owners. Don't know if you are into restoration, but if so, the tassel would have gone on a metal or cloth "loop" on the end of the handle (tsuka). Yours has gone missing, and someone put the tassel on the belt hanger loop (haikan). I'm attaching some pics of various styles.

Absolutely gorgeous fittings Barry!

Ditto. The Damascus steel is the second clue.

3 on the mune of a Kanemitsu And one on the end of a Sadastugu

I've been tracking the punch marks, or dots, as I come by them. 3 examples found HERE. (1st and 3rd are on Hiromitsu blades)

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but for reference to anyone reading it, the stamp on the tsuba is the Gifu stamp which was possibly used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association or one of the other 3 Seki sword associations of the time.

Thanks John! I see the sakura was more prominent in the OP photo, but the leaves are there after all.

I like them both, too. Bryce, hoping to get a closer view of the fuchi:

In the meantime, you've got a WWII Japanese Officers Type 98. The red/brown tassel is that of a Field grade officer (Maj-Col).

Randell, You’re the first guy I’ve seen with a name fir those dots. Can you explain further?

Hamish, it's in the title of the ad: "Japanese Samurai Katana"

Bob, here's your guy - Tadakatsu: Depending on your budget and plans for the piece, it might be worth a polish. Looks like it would be a beauty.

I have long wished for some real-world insight into the inspection process, or a directive about it, or an old interview with one of them. Why do some star-stamped blades have no other stamps at all, while others have a single, double, or even triple additional stamps? Why do some have, for example, a Na & Se, while others have double Na or double Se? But now you're going to make my head spin, too! What you propose very well could have been the truth. It would take finding 2 different katakana on blades from the same prefecture, to verify that idea. Along that line though, I recall @Kiipu pointing out that the Tenzoshan anchor was a military inspector stamp specific to the Tenzoshan production. Same thing for several of the Army arsenal branch offices. The marks were specific to the operation being supervised. My gut feel, until we see evidence otherwise, is that these are tied to the area. Hopefully we will find other katakana-marked blades to point one way or the other. 名 na 名古屋陸軍造兵廠監督課 Nagoya Army Arsenal Supervisory Section 関 seki 名古屋陸軍造兵廠関監督班 Seki Supervisory Unit of Nagoya Army Arsenal 阪 saka 大阪陸軍造兵廠監督課 Ōsaka Army Arsenal Supervisory Section 小 ko 小倉陸軍造兵廠監督課 Kokura Army Arsenal Supervisory Section 山 yama 小倉陸軍造兵廠松山出張所 Matsuyama Branch Office of Kokura Army Arsenal 松 matsu 小倉陸軍造兵廠大阪監督班 Ōsaka Supervisory Unit of Kokura Army Arsenal 江 e 小倉陸軍造兵廠松江監督班 Matsue Supervisory Unit of Kokura Army Arsenal 熊 kuma 小倉陸軍造兵廠熊本監督班 Kumamoto Supervisory Unit of Kokura Army Arsenal

What’s under the seppa?

Yes, thanks though. Saka of the Osaka Army Arsenal. Yours and @Ed Hicks Sadakatsu are the only 2 I have from our postings. I have 5 others from books and Richard Fuller's survey. The 3 from Fuller's survey are "unknown mei" and the 2 from the Cillo/Slough book are Masayoshi and Sadashige. All dated in 1943-1944.

Thanks Thomas! @BANGBANGSAN, do you have nakago pics of your YU 115? Is it a Koa Isshin?

Yeow! That's worse!

Ran the box and tag by the guys at Warrelics HERE.. Results mixed. They agree the tag is legit. Nick is bothered by the writing on the box. He has been tracking a known faker in China, Chiba prefecture, by the name of Kondo. Nick's comment: "Perhaps the tag is original, but I do not like the writing on the box." with a link to another discussion of his Fake Flags. So, *sigh*, still nothing definitive. Like I've said on the previous blades of similar problems, all the abnormalities of this blade could be explained simply by the fact that it was a custom job. So, I will continue tracking them.

Just checked my list and files and I don't have YU 115. Do you have pictures I can save to the files? or a link?

Very nice quality work went into those.

Thomas, I'm not used to this terminology. Are you referring to the fittings - IJA fittings vs civil fittings?

Enhanced a bit. Looks like corrosion covering it. Likely a Showa.

I would say at least half, if not more, of all stainless blades that I've seen are signed. Not unusual at all.

Mark, I don't see the Mantetsu kanji. Is this supposed to be one? If not, maybe Brian can move this to a new post in the Military Section?

Those are perfect, Thanks Gwyn!