Bruce Pennington

The 25 Year SMR presentation tachi all use a clasped/monkey hand (can't tell which) sarute:

These have been identified as 25 Year Presentation swords for SMR employees. I have 3 others on file, and I believe Ohmura has one on his site. A 1939 A 1940 And a 1941

Photos added for posterity

Thanks John, that's a great one. Haven't seen one of these with a "TO" stamp. @Kiipu - got any W stamped blades with a "TO"? As I filed this, the 2 Yoshiharu I have are both 1943 as is the single Yoshitani. The W-stamped Mantetsu are mostly 1942 and 1943, with 2 '44s.

If it were my sword I would want to know as much as possible. Seeing the nakago is a crucial part of determining the origin of the blade. If it is stuck, it’s simply rust. Get a rubber mallet and tap the hand guard until the handle and hand guard come off. I’ve done it numerous times. Sometimes the hand guard and spacers are simply fitted too snug. You will not harm anything by forcing them off.

Good catch Chris! The eyelets on the leather saya cover look brand new, while the belt ring looks old. The kabutogane looks very poor (imitation) while the fuchi looks brand new. I think someone has taken a mumei blade, some old and new parts, and splashed this thing together.

EVERY sword has value! Maybe your question means - are these going for high prices? Post-COVID prices have rebounded. You can find them in the range Doug mentioned, but I think that's because the sellers don't know what they have. Pricing in the $1,400 range is more in-tune. Some are being sold for more than that. They are less common, not rare, but less common than the aluminum handled 95s, so simply on suppy-demand, they tend to ring up higher than the aluminums.

HA!!! Love it! I'd give it a "thumbs up" but I'm blocked, for some reason @Brian, from making any "Likes" etc.

That's an interesting insight! So much of blade-making relies on precise temperatures at precise times. It figures that the quenching temp (and therefore season) was important. Flash forward to WWII where the quenching was industrially controlled, the "Spring" label must be a tip-o-the-hat to the old sword-making wisdom.

Reminds me of the verse " and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) So, not a "plowshare" but you get the picture!

Any idea on what this is? I've seen a couple of them on Guns.ru. They don't seem to know either, although the running theory is some sort of ship boarding or un-boarding weapon.

Ashley, Your sword is known as a Type 98 Japanese Officer sword. The metal fittings seem to be of the upgraded style - fat seppa (spacers around the handguard) and patented drag at the end of the saya (scabbard). Like Stephen asked, a photo of that drag would confirm it. I'd love to get full length photos of both sides of the naked nakago (tang), spacers and handguard removed. This smith made a variety of blades and that can sometimes be determined by small stamps at the top of the nakago, and even on the back edge. He was a registered "RJT" smith, and a star stamp at the top would confirm this blade as traditionally made for the RJT program. His blades also are found with Showa or Seki stamps, or none at all. So full photos would help. Here's an example of the patented drag:

Yes, you do! Quite minty! Your "KI 122" or "キ122" is the earliest number in the KI series that I've come across so far. KI is right in the middle of the year's production, so with Fiscal year beginning in April, yours was likely made around October + or -. No one really knows why they predominantly used the "Spring" on the dates, but most of them do. 1943 was the transition year for the change in mei. About half still had the "Koa Isshin" slogan, while half show up without it. Again, not known why the change. Thanks for posting!

Thanks Kyle, book on request! In the meantime, many will never have such a book, and my meager google search didn't turn up much beyond the Wikipedia synopsis: "In 1933, Minister of War Sadao Araki founded the Nihon-tō Tanrenkai (日本刀鍛錬会, Japanese Sword Forging Association) in the grounds of the shrine to preserve old forging methods and promote Japan's samurai traditions, as well as to meet the huge demand for guntō (military swords) for officers.[citation needed] About 8,100 "Yasukuni swords" were manufactured in the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine between 1933 and 1945." I'd appreciate a summary from someone knowledgeable, please!

Did not know that! What a shame. Thanks for the history. Also interesting that they were given just 2 hamon styles to choose from. We'll see if the smiths stuck to that as examples show up!

I collect things. It started with rocks, then bolts and hinges, then butterflies, then swords. Mostly though, I collect information. Fuller states that there were "five smithies employing 30 smiths" who produced 8,000 blades for the shrine. But that is the extent of my reference material. If someone knowledgeable on the matter could provide a summary of the operation, smiths, and gunto facts it would be greatly appreciated. Following that, let's start a catalog of all the Yasukuni gunto, photographically, that we can muster. Like our discussion on the Minatogawa-to, the best way to recognize the real thing is to study the real thing. Not having the ability to examine these gendaito in person, a pictorial study of them is the next best thing!

@gun addict's thread Gimei Minatogawa generated some discussion, the outcome of which was the reminder that the best way to spot a counterfeit is to study the original. With that in mind, I like to begin collecting, here, all the Minatogawa gunto, pictorially, we can find. It would probably be useful to begin with a brief summary of what we know about the operation and the smiths involved. There is already a few good facts on the thread Minatogawa Shrine Swords, posted by @Ed. Dawson quotes Herman Wallinga in stating that there could have been no more than 3,900 of these made during the war. On Ed's thread, @David Flynn and @vajo list the following 6 smiths (which aligns with Dawson's claim that there were 6 smiths): Masatada; Masataka; Masaaki; Masanao, Masakiyo, and Michimasa For those of us who don't have extensive reference material, maybe someone could give a brief executive summary about the operation, smiths, and/or gunto. @IJASWORDS - want to volunteer? After that, let's start posting those photos! (there is a really good one on Ed's thread that I will transfer over after we get the education established).

Nice! So now we know who bought that! I have filed pics from the auction site. He's also one of the very few non-RJT smiths in my database with stamped numbers on the nakago.

I have seen a mixture of the leather and metal seppa on these, some with both. I checked mine but it has only metal seppa.

I originally thought this might be a sign of post-war work, and it still may. It may simply be a sign of rushed work. I have a 1943 Yoshishige kai with a jiri almost as crude. So, after re-looking at it, the broken-off ends may still be a sign of post-war. We'll have to start looking for that on kai vs souvenir. My Yoshishige

@Kiipu - another double stamped Toyokawa, both large and small. Seems to be showing up on the souvenir blades, so maybe these are war surplus, originally with one stamp, and the second one added in the souvenir assembly process?

Works on my laptop.

Thanks guys, that makes more sense. George, that's the guy all right! I would like to say this is evidence that Tenzoshan was using some surplus blades made before war's end, but as several of these smiths continued to work well into the 1980s, I guess it's really not possible to say. I have 3 Kanenao blades, now, in post-war souvenir fittings, along with a Sukenori.

I can see the "Takayama to" and have found a Naomasa from the war era, but he used different kanji - 直政. The guys on the Guns.ru thread were thrown by the middle kanji. Could I get a full translation on this one please? (on one of the post-war souvenirs)

Я не знаю (Ya ni znayu) what you're talking about!