Bruce Pennington

Type 98 Japanese Officer sword. You can read all about them here: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

Tim, The stamp is poorly struck. In full, it looks like this: It seems to be only on Masafusa blades. Yours is the 3rd I have on file now.

I don't think Trystan or Kyle would have even translated the writing if it were faked. The fakers rarely get the mei correct. The rest looks like a legit civil sword, re-fitted for the war. If you want an evaluation of the age of the sword, I'd post it, with pics of full-length, naked blade on the Nihonto Forum. They'll want a measurement of the straight-line cutting section from tip to notch on the back edge. Like this:

Here's a puzzler found by @Stephen. Enough similarities to the Yamamoto Gunto Shop, but enough differences too. I'm leaning to the side of it being a different (and unidentified) shop logo. Any ideas, anyone? Yamamoto Mystery

Asking the owner of this one on THIS Wehrmacht-Awards thread for some better pics. I'll update if I get them. Comes from a grouping from a passed-on Marine who collected them on Saipan. The owner knew him personally. After getting a better look, though, this may be a civil sword refitted for the war, and not a late-war Army gunto. I'll update or delete depending upon what he gives us.

Your topic title gave me a great laugh, thanks for that!!! Love it! Just curious - does anyone know how "modern iron" and "antique" go together?

For Sale or Trade Wanted to Buy

Ha! We're getting Eric hooked on tracking/finding number-stamped blades! Love it! I see what you're seeing. The only way to find out is if we could get Roger to knock off that active rust (which needs to be done anyway!) with a deer antler. So far, the only blades I've seen with numbers stamped that high on the nakago are Navy blades. This could have been a navy blade, now heavily rusted, re-mounted in civil fittings. The rust does look new, not much of the old dark patina there. But the middle hole looks older, and Dave's eyes for older blades are much more experienced than mine. Maybe Roger will enlighten us soon with a better view!

Good catch John! 2 different nakago!

I thought I had seen something like that before - My 1-handed kyugunto. Suya Shoten fittings on a Naohiro blade.

I second that, with you added to that list! I can’t imagine what collecting was like before the Internet. I have benefited so much from all of you guys, but only because I could connect with you through the Internet.

Hi Elissa, sorry to see you've bought your initiation-fake into Military sword collecting! I still have mine. The fittings are fake too. the only piece that looks like it COULD be legit is the kabutogane (the end cap of the handle). The rest is clearly faked. That lime-green, the acid-etched temper line, and numbers on the habaki are regular signs of fakery.

Matthew, NMB needs an emoji of the heart jumping out like in Mask: If it weren't my Dad's Mantetsu, I'd trade you my polished '41 Mantetsu for that B. E. A. Utiful gunto! I have a few examples of that hash mark on nakago. Haven't been able to tie it to a purpose. If the fittings are marked with "4", then it's the Roman numeral for 4. But if not matching to the fittings, some think it might be a polisher's mark, maybe.

Hmmm.....me thinks I see a pattern of green ito! Interesting.

Thanks Eric, you're right. @Kiipu - notice the orientation!!! Ha! First one I've seen stamped vertically with blade tip down!

With the updated photo, looks like it's probably him - Miwa Kanetomo. Thanks to everyone for trying to sort this out!

No one has mentioned - the tassel is a Company grade tassel, Lt - Capt. The saya (scabbard) is civil, but has the haikan (belt ring) and remnants of the leather cover that the Army put on civil swords when brought into service.

Also, Steve, you HAVE to get me a clear shot of that number at the end of the nakago!!! Is that "811"? Can you contact the owner for a better photo? If not, can you give me a link? I hope I don't sound desperate ....... I HAVE TO HAVE THAT NUMBER!!!! Ok, calming down..... Ha! But I would appreciate it.

Steve, If you haven't read it, I've compiled as much as we know (so far) about the Showa stamp, along with all the other stamps in the article: Stamps of the Japanese Sword. In the article, I state that it was likely the approval stamp used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. Recent discussion have resurrected the possibility that it was an Army acceptance stamp. In either case, like Brian stated, it most likely means the blade was made with non-traditional means.

You can read all about the "Mysterious 'w' stamp" HERE. The short version is it's most likely an intermediate/half-way inspection stamp. An army reg found by @Kiipu says as much. The smith is Takehisa, who is one of 8 recorded smiths with the stamp, not counting all the Mantetsu blades with it. Your date is Autumn 1943.

I had the same problem on my laptop using windows 10 periodically. Not that often, maybe once a month or every other month. I just assume there’s updates or maintenance happening on the site.

Thanks for the added photos Etienne! I noticed your dating question from back in Dec of 2020, sorry no one tried to answer yet, but both blades were made during the war. As they are not dated, it's really not possible to pin them down to a specific year. The Kanenao, with a Showa stamp COULD be in the 1940 plus/minus range. Most dated blades with the Showa stamp, in my survey, are 1940/41. I'll post my chart below. The problem lies in that out of the 176 Showa-stamped blades I have on file, only 42 of them are dated! So, when were the non-dated blades made? No one can say for sure. You'll find the same issue on old Nihonto. There are far more undated blades than dated. The mostly likely year for the Yoshimitsu blade would be 1942. STAMP SURVEY Stamp 1935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 No Date Showa 1 1 1 4 20 13 1 1 130 Seki, large 5mm 1** 3 9 43 3 3 108 Na 3 3 43 5 1 Seki, small, 3mm 8 14 7 Gifu Total 2 15 32 2 Gifu 2 5 17 2 Se & Gi 7 9 Fuller Gifu* 5 6 See note Saka 阪 1 5 8 Kokura 4 (Kyu) KO 1 2 2 1 江(E) Kokura 1 熊Kuma Kokura 1 Nan 1 Tan 1 4 TO 4(zoheito) 1 Yama 1 ヘHE 1 Matsu# 6 9 オ 1 タ# 2 3 マ 1 1 ク 2 ? 1 イ 1 1 フ 1## 1 + ア 2 ホ 2 Toyokawa Anchor 1 21 Tenzoshan Anchor 1 1 4 4 5

Andy, @SteveM might correct me on this, but I'd say that's "Seki Masatomo". There is a Hiramatsu Masatomo listed on the RJT list, but no Kanetomo. I haven't been able to pin down a prefecture for Masatomo. @george trotter - have I asked you yet? This blade would put him in the Seki area, with likely would mean Gifu, right? Sorry, Andy, I got to chasing rabbits there! Your date is 1945, with a HORRIBLY inscribed "Sho" "Wa" before the numbers. I've seen some bad calligraphy on blades before, but this one takes the cake, as they say. It's also a bit unusual to see an RJT blade in "standard" Rinjiseishiki saya. I have seen it, but it's not common. They are usually in upgraded fittings. This being a 1945 date, though, may explain it. We had almost completely shut down sword production in mainland Japan in the last year of the war, due to bombing. There might not have been a whole bunch of custom fittings shops to choose from at the point this gunto was assembled.

Ha! Did it come with the gunto?!

Yeah, there's that 35XXX number again!