Bruce Pennington

No signs of fakery here. Like Geraint said, big piece of information is the nakago.

I have to amend what I said about Fuller. He has 3 pictures of a senior naval officer carrying a Type 94 shingunto. It was Dawson, page 433, showing a senior NLF commander with a gunto in leather combat saya, 2 haikan (ashi), but with white same'. Dawson doesn't comment on it, but it's either an army tsuka on naval blade/saya or a civil sword re-fitted for war. IF it was done, it seems to be tied to Naval forces who fought on land, commonly called Naval Landing Forces.

Ah, yes, I forgot about that. I don't follow these, so unfamiliar with going rates. Mine is army, so it would have been cheaper, though.

New angle for sales from Komonjo. Nice blades with similarly corroded nakago, in hastily made saya and tsuka. Granted, he clearly states in both ads "...but gimei for sure. Bid on the steel, not the name." Hisamichi Kuniyasu

Just came across this Kyu with a Naohiro blade in it. Fittings are a tad prettier than mine, but my blade is nicer. Price is unbelievable for a murata-to by Naohiro. Glad I got mine elsewhere! For sale HERE Pictures of mine are on My Christmas Present finally came in.

YO! Good catch John! Curious to hear, Jim, about John's question of fit and feel. I will have to add, though, that F & G has some pics of what Fuller believes is Naval Officers with gunto having mixed fittings like this - naval saya, but army tsuka. So, this could be one of those, or it could be a post-war add-on. Jim, The drag on the end of your saya is a patent number. Fuller explains it here:

Oooo ... but now I have a much better one! Thanks Neil! My other pictures of this made the label look like it had 5 points, whereas the silver label had 3 with rounded "cheeks." But now I can see they are the same. Why some are gold and others are silver ... ? The silver one's I've seen are so worn and unreadable, maybe the "gold" is simply worn off. I've swapped the photos in the Stamps doc, thanks! Getting little odds and ends like this for 7.3, but not enough to warrant a re-publish.

Dave, In case you haven't already ID'd it, this is an 1886 model Company grade Cavalry Officer's sword Fuller and Gregory, pgs 50,51 Nice save! I appreciate your heart on this direction of collecting. I feel that way about them too. Maybe I'll try doing some hunting around town.

Ok, thanks for checking!

Dave, At first I thought you said that in jest, but the more I think about it after reading the legend and it’s meaning the more I wonder if the soldier actually was given that string by his loved one before leaving for the war, and he tied it around his saya! Makes for a nice story though doesn’t it?

Tiger, signed. Found HERE.

Sorry, not the "sides" of the nakago, but the back edge. Many (not all) Nagamitsu have stamps and serial numbers on them. Here's an example:

Ah, ok. The darkness of the first shot made it look odd, but now I see. It's standard style for WWII leather covers. Clearly has a story to tell, too bad we'll never know it! Great gunto.

I honestly don't know why I love the blades, but what I love most is the STORY. I love to hear and read the stories of the smiths, of the carry-ers of the blades, of the times surrounding the making and the using. My almost compulsive focus on stamps is not about the stamps, but really about the WHY, which always leads to stories of the times, people making decisions, etc. History.

Alexander, Any stamps and/or numbers on the back edge of the nakagao?

Fascinating, Thomas, thanks! Mon on blades. Just looked that up - 9 planets - and like you said, several family names and variations. Peter, I'm not familiar with that term - date crest. What does that mean? (sorry for all the questions!)

Quite an old blade John! Looks like it was outfitted for WWII with that saya (scabbard). Could you give us a closer, and brighter picture of the end of the saya? Seems quite unique.

I realize there's plenty of challenges with this one, but does anyone have an idea of the meaning of the circles emblem at the top? Stylized chrysanthemum maybe?

edited out. pics are from same gunto

Mike, Just noticed the worn foil label on the saya. I have never seen one that was readable, but it is said they are of the Seki Cutlery Co. which made fittings as well as Type 95 NCO gunto. [Edited: both pictures are from the same thread and gunto]

That has driven me nuts, too, Thomas. I thinks it must have been tacked onto another thread and the quality kabutogane w/stamps issue was a tangent. The one you linked to is in the "Unknowns" section of the Stamps Doc, but I've added that one to the files. Nice to see another example. On another topic from that thread, that's only the 2nd "NA" stamped 1941 blade, and it's Jan '41, so quite early.

Yes, the shop doing the fittings for the blade mark them with a number to keep them together as each blade is different in size and shape and the fittings are customized to each blade. The saya is lacquered. The painted wood under your handle wrap indicates this was fitted very late in the war. And I agree with Barry that this looks traditionally made to me, but I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about nihonto. Those guys will have to advise on that.

See, even you missed my light-hearted attempt to "bust your chops", do a little ribbing. I'm retired now, and one of the things I miss from work was the opportunity to mix it up with my fellow workers, joking, teasing, etc. You guys are my friends and I miss being able to do that with you. But the text environment just doesn't lend itself to that. There's no facial expression, body language, tones of voice. Oh well. One thing this conversation has emphasized though, is what is being talked about on The Secret of Success thread on Izakaya. This conversation would have gone nuclear on some of the other collector forums that I frequent. But that really doesn't happen much here. There's a respect that everyone carries for others, that prevents that from happening. SO, back to STAMPS!

Nice one John. I have only one other blade, a Kanemoto, star, no date, with the NA/HO mix. The HO was the inspector mark of the 1st Factory of the Kokura Army Arsenal, so seemingly a mystery - why would a Nagoya Arsenal blade have a Kokura Arsenal stamp? But we see the same thing on Type 95s. Kokura was the oversight of both Tokyo 1st Arsenal and Nagoya Arsenal up until 1942ish. I don't have definitive facts on exactly WHEN Kokura stopped oversight. One source said 1940, another 1942. But this dated blade pushes that date to 1942. The RJT program began in 1942, which explains the lack of star on your Yukihiro.

I just re-read the whole thread and noticed that I hadn't acknowledged your point Neil. That's a very good example that points to the fact that these stamped numbers were not done by the fitter shops, at least on the RJT blades.