Bruce Pennington

Never seen it before. John, @PNSSHOGUN is the real koshirae guy to ask, though.

Not common, but seen all that. You'll find some guys on this military forum that can help with dating, but most of them hang out on the Nihonto forum. If you are asking about whether we've seen civil/older blades in kaigunto fittings, yes, again not as common. I own one myself. If you are asking about the leather covered saya on a kai, yes that is seen too. Yours appears to have the plain, wooden saya built to be covered with leather. Those TEND to be late-war, but it could have been done any year of the war as there were a considerable number of naval forces serving land-duty on several islands and the "combat" saya is a logical fitting for "grunt work."

John, this one just posted by @Bencld HERE.

He's the only one I know of (although I'm not knowledgeable on smiths in the least). Do I have pics of yours?

You can search this forum, though, for some good tips on how to get that old cosmoline off. Just search "remove cosmoline" or click HERE.

That's perfect Logan, thanks! It's the "Na" stamp of the Nagoya Army Arsenal. For bragging rights, you have 1 of the 2 last blades I have recorded with the Na stamp. The arsenal went to Gifu and small Seki stamps that year and in '45. STAMP SURVEY Stamp 1935 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 No Date Showa 1 1 1 4 20 14 1 1 134 Seki, large 5mm 1** 3 9 45 3 3 112 Na 3 4 43 7 1 Seki, small, 3mm 8 14 7 Gifu Total 2 15 33 2 1944, Jan Kanemune Sergey2010,Guns.ru 1944, Jan Kanenori NGF collection, RS fittings 1944, Jan Katsumasa Petercollector, NMB 1944, Jan Masayuki Kasper, Warrelics 1944, Jan Sukenobu, Star, Na Cox/Toki, F & G 1944, Feb Kinmichi Fatruff3, NMB 1944, Feb Mitsunobu, Star, Na Hastur, NMB

I just love how powerfully this strikes you!!! Ha! I laughed in delight and still am smiling as I write this! It is the joy of our collecting that makes it all so fun. Go for it man!

Thanks for checking Graeme. Non-dated blades are common, both in ancient times and during WWII. Of the 176 Seki-stamped blades recorded in my survey, only 64 are dated. There was a large increase in the dating of blades after the Army assumed control of sword production in 1942, so I would LIKE to say undated blades are likely made before 1942, but it's not safe to make that claim. Might be safer to say the odds a bit higher the blade was made before '42, but it's just not known.

I posted my thanks on the download page, but to reiterate - I really appreciate your article post. We spend a lot of time on the mechanics of our collecting, but what I love is when we get the smallest of glimpses into the real people and lives that these blades came from. This article has several stories (real and legendary) of the people involved around these blades, each one worthy of a book and/or movie in everything human - pain, dedication, loss, sacrifice, honor... the list goes on. I love these peeks into the history these blades came from!

Oh, and BTW -- You got a STEAL at that price! It will cost a little to re-fit the gunto if you want to finish it out, but a Type 98 gunto, intact, is going for over $1,400 USD. I do have a good tsuba (handle), laying about. If you want it, give me a PM and we can work out getting it to you for minimal cost. You'll still need to find the tsuba/seppa set (handguard and spacers).

金道 (Kinmichi) - Feb 1944 Type 98 Japanese officer sword (gunto). I don't see anything on him in the Nihontoindex, but he's listed on the Japaneseswordindex.com. A Seki area smith. Can I get a clear photo of that small mark above the date (the side with the most kanji characters)? It's likely the small Seki Stamp of the Nagoya Army Arsenal Inspectors. Also, there is a mark near the end of the nakago (tang). If it's a number or kanji, I'd love to see a clear shot of that too!

I second that request. I've checked all 5 of the Akihisa in my files and the numbers are at the end of the nakago (tang) on the dated side.

Dang! But my pictures are better than yours! Ha! To horribly abuse a famous quote: "I've forgotten more, than (I) will ever know!" Worked out, though, as this is the thread it needed to wind up on.

It's the most staining I've seen on one blade. I have several blades with spots, like you showed on the other side, and I've had no success in getting them off. It's like a stain that is embedded into the steel. You can try 90%+ alcohol, but in my experience, it's only shined the surface but didn't remove the black stains. Unless someone has some magic cure, I agree with Ray that only a polish will solve it. There ARE cheaper versions of polishing. You don't have to pay for the most expensive kind. I'm not experienced in the terms, but when I had mine polished there were 2 or 3 versions I could pick from and some were cheaper than others.

This officer definitely had a individualist streak! But we've seen that with other gunto, too. Just the first one we've seen in RS fittings. Gareth, while anything is possible with gunto, I can assure you the haikan on this was meant for a leather cover. Rinji seishiki haikan look like this: Here is a photo of several styles of haikan made for leather-covered saya:

Just discovered this on Ohmura's site HERE. It seems to be the MRS fittings with a mumei blade. The problem is that the blade has quite a non-suguha hamon. So, either this is a 1945 Mantetsu blade with a very non-standard, maybe custom, blade; or it's a blade by someone else than SMR, and they buyer purchased an SMR rinji set of fittings; OR the style is not exclusive to SMR. In WWII, we can never say never, never say always!

Saya appears to have been made for a leather cover, based on the smooth surface paint and the haikan (ashi). Pretty unique and rare.

Hermes, Another measurement the guys find useful is the "nagasa":

Graeme, You can find Seki-stamped blades in both army and navy fittings, but yours is definitely army. So, no date on the other side of the nakago (tang)?

Paul, Don't know if your tassel came that way, but with the brass tsuba 95s, they're designed to start at the tsuba, then loop through the sarute, and then hang down. Here's a couple of pics, one from Ohmura, and one of mine:

I was going to joke that the owner must have had the crap scared out of him and his intense grip bent the tsuka! Maybe I wasn't so far off! @Shamsy and @Stegel can say with some assurance, but it's in the mid-6,000s.

Hermes, If you want to know more about the possible age of this blade, post it on the Nihonto Forum for some expert evaluation. Don't be bothered by the surface rust on this. If you value it enough to have it polished, it will truly shine. If money is limited, do a search on NMB for how to clean and preserve a blade. It is definitely worth preserving!

I really love those fittings! The rattan wrap definitely shows the Indonesian locale flavoring.

Thank you Peter! The stamps on the kabutogane are not common. I've only see a few like this, and there seem to be only 2 or 3 shops that did it.

Peter, The star on your kabutogane is the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal, but the other stamp is an unidentified shop logo. Here's a more clear photo of another with that stamp: Haven't seen that small stamp before on your tsuba/seppa, so it's unknown too. Can we get photos of the nakago mei and date for the files? I don't have that one listed in the survey.