Bruce Pennington

That's a really nice kai, Paul. Did it come with the tassel and retention cord? The retention cord is fairly rare.

Good one Trystan! Thanks! I suppose there's no chance of getting a better view of that mark at the end of the nakago? I could be a "W/M", but can't make it out in that shot.

Without going back and rereading the thread (call me lazy!), Are these found on both arsenals or a particular arsenal?

I guess we all have our bad days! The guy stamping this 95 clearly was having one. Kokura stamped over Iijima and the “1”s on the saya throat are upside down! gunto posted Here on Gunboards

Sorry, I've been moving and reading things a piece at a time and forgot that it was already mentioned that the 造 could be shorthand for Arsenal.

Nice example Peter! I’m starting to appreciate the humble beauty of these.

So are we talking “made by“ as a meaning? Or are we looking at a shop logo? Ideas?

Agree with Trystan. The Kokura stamp tells us that this was made no later than 1942. Shamsy or Stegel could pin down the date a little tighter, but in the 1940-42 range. The "ichi" in sakura is officially an unknown contractor, but through some great research on another thread (I'll update if I can find it) there's interesting evidence that says this is the Kobe Shoten company, who later started using the "K" in sakura stamp. Not proven, but quite possible. The yakote is standard for 95s. Quite beautiful on a near pristine blade! I like Kokura/Tokyo blades. Their lines are more precise than the Nagoya blades. Quite attractive.

Posting photos for posterity That's a mon I haven't seen before too!

There are a ton of photos on Mel Cox's articles. Here are but a few:

How are we (or you) going to formally document all the discoveries you're making Thomas?!?! This is YUGE news! I a definite step in identifying these swords.

I was thinking the same thing. The way it is now, all the strokes are going upward, which is a little unusual right?

Whoever said the price should have been $500 or $700 is a knucklehead and either had NO idea about the market or is intentionally trying to create controversy. If that is his idea of proper pricing, I think we all need to track him down and buy some swords from HIM! We'd get some great swords at unbelievable prices! You have a fabulous kaigunto in excellent condition with a gorgeous ancient blade - puts it in the top end of market price - which BTW has rebounded to pre-COVID conditions and even higher than before.

And based on Steve's earlier description of these being made for send-off, it would explain the uniformity of the writing. Any idea, though, if the shrines today make these as souvenirs? Could it be a modern souvenir sold by the shrine?

Thanks Stephen, image is now flipped.

I'm not a flag follwer, but I've seen a couple of posts at Warrelics asking about these red stamps. They are usually from a shrine or something along that line, and I don't think I've seen these faked (though like I said, I don't follow the flag discussion very often). If no one here can check it out, run it by the guys at Warrelics HERE.

Any luck with this one?

No. Enlarging it, I almost wonder if it isn't a "rail" stamp with some sort of curved attached? or was it simply the way this guy cut a "P" and I'm seeing too much into it? I'll run the other kanji by the Translation section.

Have you made an attempt to get the tsuba kanji translated?

There are a couple for sale on ebay right now, but they aren't the pierced kind. No requirement that they be pierced, but with your quality fittings, I'd personally hold out for one.

I always surprises me at the wide variety in the Type 8/19.

Swords had never been on my radar screen until my dad died, back in 2014. He had been in the Marines after Korea, and picked up a sword (likely playing poker). It was missing several parts. So, I started searching the web for the parts, and to get the mei translated. It turned out to be a 1941 Mantetsu Koa Isshin. I wound up reading a lot and found out "gee, there were Navy swords too! And NCO swords, too!" and off to the races I went. My collecting goal was to get a good representation of all the official WWII types and standard variations. That's done now, and I've wondered where my hobby time should take me. It took me into the Mantetsu study and Stamp collecting, and digging/detective work in general. I went to the AF crash investigation school in my Air Force days, and enjoyed the detective work it involved. I've found the same joy in chasing down the mysteries we've been exploring here at NMB. I'm nowhere near the skilled researcher like Thomas or Mal, but I enjoy the chase all the same.

I have run into that with other mon, too. I don't remember the date (it was way before WWII) they opened up mon to all families, not just Samurai. By WWII, there were many variations to all the original themes, to personalize them to each particular family. So, you may not find your exact image.

Dang! Sharpened on both edges! That's really cool.

I love that yours has the 山 yama of the shop name.