Bruce Pennington

Neil, Are you saying that you think this tsuba/fittings were made during the war, and made specifically to go on civil blades re-fitted for the war? I had always assumed (DOH, there's that ugly word again!) that fittings like this were with a blade that had been bought as a civil sword. THEN, that civil sword was bought by the military, or donated by the owner, for the war, where the civil fittings were simply retained and a leather covered saya was added. I'm not arguing, simply wonder what impressed you about these that they were military made, or made for military swords.

Great one John! It's posted in the Stamps Doc, now!

It took me nearly 2 years on the wait list before I could even mail in my blade! It was worth the wait.

Great one, Thomas! I bet that's Mt Fuji sticking above the clouds. The sakura is unusual.

Matt, is there no date on this Masakatsu? I find it interesting that this, and the other "60" linked by Thomas, are not star-stamped. However, I do have several star-stamped blades with numbers on the mune, and I haven't studied the significance. I have a star-stamped Masakatsu, April '45, with "1512" stamped on the face of the nakago. Harumph.... more work to do!

That's cool, Peter! So to the known civil/military tsuba Sakura Bamboo Plain Fig Leaf We add "?" What should we call it?

Yes, I should clarify - I was talking about using the antler on the nakago to remove the active rust. Don't use it on the blade!

Do we have that one on file Gareth?

Wonder what that rolled up cord is hanging from under his finger? Not a rank tassel.

The rare color and the semi rare Seki stamp on a copper fuchi would both add or increase the value to me.

I have 3 star-stamped Kanetoshi blades on file, one from 1943, and 2 from 1944; both in RS fittings. Don't know what year he got RJT qualified, so yours could be as early as 1942, though. Love to see this polished! If you're not going to polish, I had some success using a deer antler and a mineral oil - lindseed oil mix, removing active rust. You can get cut antlers at pet shops. Has a good edge for scraping at the rust.

Considering the level of rust, I would say that all that is holding everything on is rust. I have seen that a few times. You might try shooting some Rust remover spray in there and continue to tap with the rubber mallet. I have recently seen a couple of officer swords with an extra hole at the end of the tang. If that is the case with yours, you must unscrew the sarute barrel in the end of your tsuka (handle).

Is it '1911' ?

Nice catch Steve, I see what you mean.

About half of the Swords listed on proxy bid right now or fakes. Centurion auctions and Donnelly auctions.

@SteveM @Kiipu @uwe @Nobody

Slough translates his mei as "Yoshu Hojo ju Hiromasa saku" and says he was from Ehime prefecture, made "Medium to High-Grade Gendaito". I don't know how collectors regard him. I don't follow the smiths.

Again, problem with these is that the poor quality of fakes, late-war work, and island swords, all make them look so much the same. Sheesh, what a mess!

Dang, I could go either way. Looking at the haikan, the back edges seem to well defined to be covered with cloth: But then, if painted, why isn't the belt ring painted too? I could go either way on this one.

Nice gunto, Gareth! It appears from your photos that the oil is cosmoline. G.I.s coated swords (and I think other weapons) with it when returning home. It can be safely removed and many discussions have taken place about how to do that. You can search 'remove cosmoline' and get 32 pages. Here's one where Zook describes his favorite method: Cosmoline for Showato Blade The writing is in the location where polisher stripes are normally seen. Hopefully someone will translate for you soon! Very curious, indeed.

Chris, I'm the worst guy to ask about shinsa, as it's not something I'm knowledgeable about. To me, it seems to be one of those things, like polishing, that it's value lies in the personal tastes of the collector.

I just noticed the writing on the leather saya cover! I can say I've never seen that on a fake before!

In my early years, I would immediately called the Type 98 a fake, with the poor quality kabutogane, and ito wrapped all in one direction, and poor quality nakago. I've seen enough variation since then, and lengthy debates over island-made gunto, that I'm going to firmly say - I don't know! Could certainly use more clear closeups of tsuba, fuchi, and kabutogane for a better opinion. You haven't shown enough of the Rinji details to begin a guess.

I agree with both Dave and Chris. You are in Wyoming, so likely fairly dry climate which is good to prevent future rust. If you got the sword from somewhere else, recently, simply leave the blade out of the saya (scabbard) for a few days to let the saya air out and dry, if still wet. Sometimes you can remove the saya throat piece and the wooden liners will slide out, for better drying, but they don't always come out. Plus, if yours has pieces falling out, the liners may not be in one piece anymore. I would also appreciate seeing the nakago (tang). It's easy to remove the handle. Sometimes the rust can make it feel stuck, even with the bamboo peg removed, but you can always wiggle the tsuka (handguard), or tap it with a rubber mallet, if stuck, and everything will slide off.

Chris, Just got back from a trip and had a chance to file this in the Stamp Survey. It is only the 4th large Seki stamped blade I have in 1943, compared to 48 blades with it in 1942. The use of the large Seki stamp was rapidly tapering off starting '43. So, in my world, you've got a fairly rare blade there! It is also my first Seki-stamped Kanetatsu. I have one Showa (no date) stamped by him from Slough's book. So in that regard, it is rare also.