Bruce Pennington

Seems to be the guy, thanks Piers! I cannot read those papers, do they say an estimated year? Thanks Jean! I've re-oriented the pic, here. I'm completely ignorant of tsuba artisans. Any idea if he is of any regard? Also, the tsuba seems really plain. Why would a guy want to sign something so unremarkable? Sorry for all the questions!

Looking at our member map, we have 3 in Hong Kong. One of them might have info on mainland collectors: @Lee @Gordon @roger Also, I think Trystan - @BANGBANGSAN - knows someone over there.

Getting this translated for a fellow collector, if I may. On a civil sword fitted for the war. I've requested full-length photos for better dating purposes. I'll update when they come in.

Sorry to see they are going after the Suya logo, now! This one also has a "NA" inspector stamp in the middle, which you will never see. All Suya blades were inspected by the Tokyo arsenal.

I agree with all the points made so far. It's alarming that the fakers are attempting Suya Shoten blades. Yet, on the other hand, we're lucky as Suya produced quality work and will be hard for fakers to match. A couple more points - the saya throat appears to be one-piece with the saya; the inspector stamp, upon enlargement, seems to be a "Na" of Nagoya, which is totally bogus, if so.

This tachi uses metal mekugi: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/uploads/monthly_2022_06/8A899441-4D6C-4FA1-920E-C4A43EBC71C3.jpeg.8bf763d75967eb2da820d59eed4fc230.jpeg

Odd looking blade there. Think it was a prop?

[drum-roll................] and the nakago!?!?

That makes 4, now. Both the Yoshichicka and Yoshitsugu have habaki and officer saya. On the matter of the blade fitting the 95 saya, you can see on Matt's example the saya opening was re-shaped to take the slightly wider blade. The adjustment looks old. Tom's didn't seem to need the adjustment. A correction to something I said earlier - the 2 Masatsugu are not the same month. One is June '45 the other is April '45. And finally- @Kiipu - I sure hope you are writing a book!!! The stuff you know needs to be put in print!

Yes, but are all the parts original!?!? Ha!

A small correction to my post - the Yoshitsugu is an old blade, made by a smith from Mutsu province in 1803. But same explanation could still apply - blade was fitted out by a different shop, different city, than the Masatsugu blades. I'll be honest, my gut says the paint on the saya throat of Tom's post looks almost too new, which lends to post-war assembly, but something else on the other hand, is ..... what are the odds of a post-war Bubba getting his hands on 2, yes TWO Masatsugu blades made in the same month and year?! Seems unlikely to the max. More believable to me is the late-war theory.

That's a tough ask, Thomas! It could be as simple as: "Type 97 Kaigunto for sale; Description: As is" More elaborate description: "As brought back by original owner from the war. Mumei, undated blade. Upgraded fittings with sharkskin saya. Company grade tassel is Army, as is the fuchi. Whether original or not, unknown."

O.....M.....G!!!! Major overload! I have the Yoshitsugu on file already; so now we have 2 Masatsugu, and all 3 in Type 95 fittings! Well, actually, the Yoshitsugu had a Type 95 tsuka with a wooden saya made for a (missing) leather cover. Sesko has this Yoshitsugu working in Gifu, and the Ki Masatsugu in Fukuoka. So, the fittings came from different shops, OR, all 3 blades were obtained by a single shop that was using Type 95 fittings for officer purchases (on the premise that end-of-war supplies were scarce). Adding to it, now, another example of the "Fuku" and "Private Contractor" stamps! Thanks for those! Assuming these are wartime legit, I can imagine an owner between then and now, didn't like the latch on Matt's gunto not working and simply adding the coil spring. Checking the files, we now have NCO blades in officer gunto (from @Stegel) and officer blades in NCO gunto! Edit: the 3 gunto could be for NCOs, not an officers. A tassel would have been useful, but none of the 3 have one.

Quite interesting reading, thanks Matt! This is one of the things I love about this forum. We went from tossing around thoughts on a 'questionable' sword....to learning some great history (at least I learned a lot that I had never known!).

Haven't seen that before. I have a vague memory of seeing something similar on a civil set of fittings. Looking forward to seeing the rest. The stitching on the leather cover looks to be good workmanship.

Thanks Matt! Looks like I have that one on file from a previous owner, but I appreciate the heads-up. For anyone looking for something unique, I have over 300 Mantetsu on file, now, and only 6 of them are in this SMR Rinji-styled fittings. I'd call that 'rare.'

Thanks Matt, for the reply. Your discussion of the Plimpton example, along with the other from memory, adds a deeper layer to the issue. Like Steve said above, these are just going to have to remain a mystery. I have learned, over the years, some things I had initially written off as Bubba-work, later turned out more likely to be WWII period legit. So, I'll hold on the cautious approach and stay on the fence! Mr. Plimpton has had much more experience with swords than I, so I'll have to defer to him on this. But for discussion's sake, I must say I do not know of any Army Paratroopers that existed in the war. If anyone knows of them, please fill us in. I've posted a discussion asking for knowledge on the subject over at Warrelics HERE. As I state there, I am aware of the Navy's special landing force. Austin Adachi has written an excellent book on them - https://books.google.com/books/about/Rikusentai.html?id=U-OszgEACAAJ He doesn't discuss their swords (that I recall). There are some excellent pics, one with several officers with what appear to be Army Type 94s! The rest lack enough deal to tell what they are actually carrying.

Hi Matt! Appreciate you coming in to discuss this one, it's pretty perplexing. Do you mind addressing a couple of questions? If so, 1. Did it have the coil spring under the latch when you acquired it, or was that added to make the latch tight? 2. In hand, did the ana at the end of the nakago look newly drilled to you. It seems to appear new in the photos. 3. Where did you get the descriptive term "paratrooper gunto" and why would that term be linked to this rig? 4. Your description: "The mountings are a very rare and high end Type 95 Shin Gunto" - how so? On a 95 blade, these are normal and standard fittings. The "ichi" stamp is less common, maybe 'rare' but the fittings are not. Just pursuing clarity, not trying to be offensive in any way.

I love these warblades. Westernized kyu fittings, but blended with traditional Japanese blade. A true emblem of the times of Japan's transition to 'modern' military warfare.

Serial number

A 'for what it's worth' observation: Of the dated blades I have on file with the, usually inverted, double-chevron (W), ALL of them are 1943. I also have it on several Type 95s and some Zoheito which are not dated. The smiths of the dated blades are Takehisa, Yoshiharu, and Yoshitani. Checking the Mantetsu with the mark, they are found in the full range of years 1942, 1943, and the beginning of '44.

And a 'W' or inverted 'M' stamp for the record.

Both books look interesting. Thanks for the post Steve!

I only have 1, so it's by default my favorite! It was early in my collecting. I wanted a good example of a Type 97 kaigunto and came across one that was beat up, gold gilding missing from most of the metal parts, custom saya faded and peeling at the seem a bit, worn leather cover. Yet the guy was asking more than average price! After chatting with him, I learned that the blade was a mumei, Muromachi era blade, the saya was shark-skin, and it had a Fuji mon. I got hooked and bought it, and still enjoy everything about it. To think some sweaty smith was pounding this out about the same time Columbus was sailing the ocean blue .... just hard to wrap my mind around it! Jace, were you looking for photos or just the story?

"...as a beginner.." - so he's either quite lucky, or he's done some research/education before he buys! 4 above average swords AND a rare collectable copper 95. Either that, or he's had some good advice from other collectors.