Bruce Pennington

The seller sent this photo of the nakago mune

Which reinforces my point. As one of the several factors that could explain a decrease in quality workmanship over generations, this would certainly have to be in the mix. I don't think a young man, who is becoming a swordsmith because it is expected of him, even if his talent is equal to his father, is going to have the passion for the craft that his father had. This is bound to affect the quality of his work. Of course, things like professional pride, fear of losing face, fear of shaming family, may still provide the impetus to do high quality work, but the single factor of one entering a field by compulsion, rather than love of the craft, is bound to affect his workmanship. Not a big issue. Just thought is would play into the OP's original question.

That's gorgeous! I love that style blade!

Sure, we have that freedom. I admit I do not know the Japanese culture especially back then well enough, but is it possible that children were told by their fathers “you will continue the family business“ and their obedience is demanded?”

You also have to consider the issue that the original smith likely picked up the trade because of a true love of the craft. Likely even had natural talent. Following children may have "picked up the family business" out of obligation; less love of the craft and more pressure to please father. Yes, the son may still have been born with the natural talent. But if the love of the work isn't there, then it will show in his workmanship. Same principle applies in all businesses.

Wow, Mums on the tsuba and seppa!

Trystan, Yes, I only have Winter blades in '38 and '39. So this would be a big exception. The big "BUT" in the room, though, is as a custom made blade, he could have deviated from the norm. It is the same problem we are having with all these potential "custom" blades. All the deviations we see are because they are custom. I've some some comparisons of the latest one with no serial number. It seems to fit almost all aspects of a Mantetsu. My only notable complaint is the "tetsu." It's pretty bad. I found some slight variations on "tetsu" with other blades, but none as bad as this one. Personally, I feel that if the mei cutter is going to mess anything up, it wouldn't be the company name! The seller was told that the blade "might" have been made for the Yasukuni shrine - I doubt the company would have let a blade go to a shrine with their name cut messy. UNLESS, the mei was cut by the smith doing the custom blade, and not by a professional mei cutter. Harumph! too many what ifs. I've filed it in the "Possible Fakes" file of the Mantetsu study.

Nice, Vittorio, thanks for the addition to the database! Your fittings are in excellent condition, too. Is that gold band on the tassel made of cloth or metal?

Well! I just got an answer from the seller, who claims this blade was “not made for use in the field therefore has no serial number”! I am sensing a trend here with these blades with wavy Hamon and no serial number. I responded that I have never heard of blades made not to be used in the field. And wondered if he had a source for that information. Awaiting his response.

I haven't been following habaki art for long, and not disagreeing with anyone, just adding. I have 2 other zodiacal animals on the Cat Scratch Habaki Thread Tiger and Dragon Here's a dragonfly, but clearly not a zodiac character: and bird I agree, they are the exception to the rule though.

Ah, I understand, thanks!

Angel, just one more thing - I NEED a picture of the full serial number on the back edge of the tang. You have to understand - this is a live or die situation! My obsession MUST be appeased! Ha! Seriously, you may not know about our long-running Mantetsu survey Thomas mentioned above. We've been tracking Mantetsu mei and serial numbers for some time and would truly appreciate adding yours to the database.

Neil, Gorgeous blade and fittings! For some reason, I really like the light tan canvas same'. It adds something to the overall look. Also, thanks for the serial number - Saka (Osaka Arsenal) 3798 . Your "Broken heart" stamp is the 3rd I've seen, now. I don't have record of where the first one came from, but he 2nd was on a RS rig with a Star-stamped blade in it. So, at least 2 of 3 are Rinji-seishiki and RJT smiths. Completely unknown as to the shop that was using that mark. Of course, the shape is called "Boar's eye" on the tsuba. I wonder if this has some tie to that concept? Your blade isn't star-stamped? Sorry to distract from your beautiful thread!

Thanks Barry! Hm! No anchor?

Thanks for the pics, John! Yours is the lowest number of the "YA" line, now. We have a YA 79, so yours was 7 blades before it in production. Love the backdrop, too, for the photos. I can see it is for sure "Autumn".

Also, what sort of fittings is that in? Maybe a picture of the full length rig?

I just read Neil's post on his Gorgeous Emura HERE, and how he was "self-taught" and yet some of his swords are true beauty. Should Emura be shunned because he wasn't trained, beginning to end, by an official Japanese swordsmith Master? His work is either crap, or wonderful, or somewhere in between. It is what it is. His crap swords "ruined" what could have been potentially a treasure. So, let's all shun Emura! I know, I know .... a poorly trained, poorly skilled polisher can ruin a blade. But the polisher's skill, and his reputation, should be measured by his successes or failures, not by whether he was self-taught or trained by a Japanese expert.

Nice catch Jonathan! The "new" or "unusual" way of marking this tsuba (and by connection the whole gunto) may be expected under the ad-hoc conditions they were facing in that last year. Thanks for connecting that to this stamp!

Yes. Your name is visible on the left side under your logo. It just doesn't show in the mobile app views, like a phone, so guys read the forum on their phone don't see it. You're compliant. If you want it to show under each post, there's a place in your personal settings to add it.

Fabulous Mal, that's going to keep me busy for a while! Nice work!

Steve, Thomas is being very precise about the stamps. But evidence supports the idea (for now) that the anchor in sakura is the Toyokawa Navy Arsenal. They use an anchor in circle on sword blades, but they use the anchor in sakura on other things like bayonets and fittings. We just don't have documentation to verify the anchor in sakura on dirks.

In the middle of moving right now, so I’ll have a go at it when everything settles. I got started on the Toyokawa arsenal stamps already.

Are you going to make me beg? I will,, you know!

You'd think I'd be getting better at this by now! But this one has me shut down. Help please!

I second Thomas' request!