Bruce Pennington

NMB's For Sale - Swords and Edged Weapons page.

I see a Wakabayashi Shigetsugu on the RJT list of JSI, but don't see him in either Slough or Sesko. Do you know a prefecture he was from?

I wish I had annotated the source, maybe Slough or Fuller? but, if correct, the literal translation is "Hundred time Forged", which earlier discussions say the intent is: well tempered, well made, etc. Just relaying what I've read in the past. I have 14 Kanehisa on file with kokuin. All but one, and now this one, are his own name in the stamp and none are dated. This is the first one of his I've seen with a date. They only two other blades with the stamp, I have, are by Kaneyuki and a mumei.

Yes, that's what I meant. So, this chart semi-confirms my theory that the stamped numbers are put there by the Army, not fittings shops. The final step would be finding a blade that actually matches the chart. Is there more to the chart, or is that it?

Thanks David. We have an Army chart showing the stamp to be a "midway or halfway inspection" stamp. It's seen on Kyugunto, police sword, Type 19, Type 95, and Mantetsu in addition to these of Yoshiharu and Takehisa (plus three single blades from 3 other smiths). I don't follow other millitaria, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it on other equipment and weapons as well. There is no actual description of how it was done. I personally feel certain the stamped numbers were done by the Army as they are done in the same orientation and that orientation changes over the years in a precise manner. Navy is a different story as the numbers found on their blades are all over the place and in differing fonts.

Do you think those are numbers stamped on the blades? This fits exactly what I imagine was being done with these stamped numbers. I don't have blades from either Shigetsugu or Akimasa in my files, yet.

I remember that story! Thanks for the reminder.

Some folks like these, Grim. I'm with Thomas. Wartime sword, made in China (Manchuria) either for collaborators or Japanese. Probably last year of the war or so.

Well then, he might actually have some insight on the WWII swordmaking world and arsenals that we don't have in our modern reference material. Looking forward to hearing more about this!

@Marcin found this Kaneaki with the Toku stamp. From the pictures I really can't tell if it's gendaito or not. Maybe some of you guys who are better at that would give my your opinion. I'll post a couple of shots, but they have several for a better evaluation on this site: Jauce Auction of Kaneaki Rinje seishiki

Ah, Ok. I was hoping it was put out nearer to the war years. Seems unlikely to have more than we already know if it was written in '94. I could be wrong, though.

Yes, Yoshiharu. He and Takehisa hold the lion's share of blades with the W/M stamp. And is is the W/M stamp, David. Just lightly struck, as you said. Here's one of 12 other Yoshiharu I have on file (13 now!). It looks like there are numbers at the end of the nakago? Could you post a clear shot of that for me, please?

I really hope one of are fluent guys can get a copy and read it for insights, like that chapter on the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal! What year was this written Julien?

Julien, Thanks for the post. Hope some of our Japanese readers can make use of it. Have you been through it yet? Is it just a massive list, like Sesko's sword smith list? Does it discuss the Army's operation at all in the industry? Does it tie smiths to forges, shops, or arsenals?

It is found on blades between 1940 - 1944 with most dated blades being made in 1942. Stamp 1935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Showa 1 1 1 8 36 35 2 3 Seki, large 5mm 1** 5 16 85 21 10

I have a 95 with a saya like that, where the paint had been stripped. The metal has that same dark look. By 'restore' do you mean re-paint? I don't recommend it. I did it to one of mine and it looks too new. After that, I leave them as they are. TLC with some gentle cleaning, uchiko, and oil is all they need. Edit: corrected spelling, and replaced Choji with Uchiko

Thanks Trystan! I've edited my post.

That's perfect, thanks Trystan! I was trying to get a feel for how early the zoheito were being made. So, officially, it was 1938. However 'factory blades' were being made as early as the Murata-to in the late 1800s, and all sorts in-between, as 25s, 32s, etc.

Another one posted by @KKCook here: EDIT: Turned out to the the same sword as the one John opened the discussion with (thanks Trystan!). Just as well to have this linked, though, as the ebay pages will go dead after a while.

Nice star blade, Nicholas! Could I get a shot of the full blade and fittings for the files? I only had one other of his on file, with the star.

I have 9 on file with kokuin, and 6 others without it, all stamped with Showa or Seki. If you want photos, I could send via email.

Thanks Charles, I can see the release button is centered, like a Type 94. I was hoping for a photo more like this: Yours only has one haikan (belt hanger) but the second one was removable, and most often were. If you have a caliper, you could measure the thickness of the edge of the tsuba (handguard). The 94s had a thicker tsuba, 11mm I think?

In my contacts, I have Kevin Jones - kevinATryujinswordsDOTcom - as his email.

Excellent result. I always clean mine to remove dirt and grime.

Hi Mathis! Why don't you start a thread and post photos. We'd all love to see it and discuss it. If for some reason you'd rather do it privately I can email you. Let me know.