Bruce Pennington

Now, I'm sure the Japanese Army didn't think it necessary to let the soldier know that his saya was made of steel. So, I'm betting this is either an Army inspector whose mark is saying "Made of Army supplied Steel", similar to the role the star stamp played in later years, or it's a shop logo, which says "steel" in the design. We also see several ways makers of officer blades sort of put "bragging rights" mei, or hotstamps, that state the type of steel used (Kobuse, Yasugi, etc), and maybe this is in that category. My gut says it's an arsenal inspector. MOST stamps I've seen on drags are of arsenals, so maybe it's an approval of the steel used. Though, I do have one with "Sha" stamped on the drag, which is possibly a contractor stamp: Hrmph. Just another mystery to add to the list. Thanks Trystan.

I think that must have been the registration date. This blade was clearly made long before that.

Gorgeous John! Gives the old blade new life, doesn't it. Do you have the gunto fittings? How do they look? Hope someone can help with the mune kanji.

Yes, thanks George! The repeats came from copying and pasting from 2 different sections of my charts, and didn't notice the repeat. The province part is where someone else ... who could that be?! ... come in! I'm posting the updated version of the chart above on this page, but I've attached my whole Stamps Survey charts as a Word Doc in case you'd like to use the charts to update with regions/provinces. That's way out of my abilities, and I'd love to get your help on that. The stamped numbers charts are at the bottom of the file. (well shoot!, messed up the copy/paste and can't delete the bottom part) 1942, Apr Masakazu (RJT) 1129; “1” on mune ニ1129 on fittings George Trotter, RS 1943 Akimitsu (RJT) タ1246 Kapp & Monson book 1943 Akimitsu (RJT) 2123 (イ536 fittings) TimBlackburne, RS 1943, May Munetoshi (RJT) 松 1080 RS star イ403 on fittings Trotter Collection, 1944, Jan Kanetsugu (RJT) ク306 Edward Mahle, NMB 1944, Feb Kunishiro (RJT) オ154 Star 1944, Feb Kunishiro (RJT) オ 154, star Trotter Survey 1944, Mar Munetoshi (RJT) タ2353 Type 98 star Trotter Survey 1942-1945 (ND) Masakazu (RJT) フ 37 RS star IJASWORDS ND Masakazu (RJT) フ37 star ND Munemitsu マ 431 Star Cillo, pg 119 ND Nagamitsu (RJT) イ313 on mune Ooitame; NMB, RS stamp survey (1).docx

That's an interesting development!

Thanks Stephen! That makes 2 Kanehiro out of 5 Kaikosha blades, so far. And only one with the large sakura. That thing is going to plague me for a long time.

Any chance this is a Kaikosha stamp? If not, any ideas?

Wow, wish I could have bought that one! Am I reading this right that it was made in 1929? Here are some pics for posterity:

My annotation "RS" means it was a double-ana nakago, or was mounted in RS fittings. I'm afraid I haven't standardized the location of the note, but it's either by the serial number or by the owners' name. So, 2 of them in that list are RS nakago. All others are 94/98 or unknown (often pictures don't include the full nakago).

Great work guys!

Cool, Trystan. Can I get that smith's name for the files?

Chris, The gunto is legit, Iijima Contractor, Kokura Arsenal. But the tassel is a modern replica. Saya has seen a lot of use, but blade looks good.

Andrew, The fuchi stamps are legit. The "Ichi" contractor is one of the stamps we THINK is of the Kobe Shoten shop. The blade could be one that was cut in half after the war and re-shaped by a post-war owner or a Japanese shop selling souvenirs. @Stegel and @Shamsy should see this. Quite an interesting development for this war sword's life.

George, you crack me up! Love working with you! Already on it. But not much data to go by yet. Here's what I have: 1943 Akimitsu (RJT) タ1246 Kapp & Monson book 1943 Akimitsu (RJT) 2123 (イ536 fittings) TimBlackburne, RS 1944, Jan Kanetsugu (RJT) ク306 Edward Mahle, NMB 1944, Feb Kunishiro (RJT) オ154 Star ND Masakazu (RJT) フ37 Star ND Munemitsu マ 431 Star Cillo, pg 119 ND Nagamitsu (RJT) イ313 on mune Ooitame; NMB 1944, Feb Kunishiro (RJT) オ 154, star Trotter Survey 1944, Mar Munetoshi (RJT) タ2353 Type 98 star Trotter Survey 1942-1945 (ND) Masakazu (RJT) フ 37 RS star IJASWORDS

I believe he's referencing this: WW2 US Govt Archived Documents. Lots of very interesting reading there.

Thanks Neil, I was about to duplicate it in my files.

Man! I've never seen a sakura that big before! Kyle, any other photos? Nothing on the other side?

Trystan, I can't quite make out the date on your Kanemichi. Is that Aug 1939?

Just these 3 Edit: Dang. The nakago seem to be the same sword. Yet the open spaces in the ito, at the top of the tsuka look different. Maybe @IJASWORDS can tell us if these are just older pics of his gunto? Or am I looking at 2 different swords?

A 2-piece with horizontal and vertical burrs; found HERE.

Thanks for clearing that up!

I've found just the opposite. I would say a majority are metal. The tan colored steel saya with showato in them are quite plentiful. We just tend to see the expensive, upgraded versions here at NMB because they are exceptional and gorgeous, and usually have a gendai blade in them.

Thanks Uwe! What a peculiar way to date a blade with the year stated twice. I bet your thought on the last bit referring to a month is right. I did find a reference where it could also mean "Spring."

I've written to @Bruno to see if he has pics of the mei and date on that タ1399 blade. It should be an RJT smith. 1246 is Akimitsu and 2353 is Munitoshi.