Bruce Pennington

Shot it over to Steve, Shamsy, and he says it's the first he's ever seen.  Completely legit, though.

Thanks to @John C, this 3-point label is on a late-war Kanenori.  It is the most readable one of this style I've seen.  According to the seller, 11z1942 at ebay, it says:

(top) 票.査検 /Inspection label

(middle) 合組業工物刀関 / Seki cutlery Society /Association  

(bottom) 市関県阜岐 / Gifu Prefecture Seki City   (all read R to L)

Here's a late-war gunto with a nice quality kabutogane, found by @John C on this ebay sale.  Undated Kanenori, with the 3-point Seki paper label.

6 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

"T.E.C." stamp on Kai Gunto,

Thanks John.  I only have 3 examples and as you note, all 3 have the Toyokawa stamp on the seppa as well.  I don't know the finer details of shops and forges that worked directly or exclusively for arsenals, but it appears this is so for this one.  I know SMR had their own fittings shop, but I don't know if the Army and Navy arsenals made their own fittings, too.

7 hours ago, John C said:

For your files - on a Kanenori showato.

Thanks John!  That's the best one of this shape where the writing is completely legible.  

Trystan,

Is he selling it, or just sharing photos?

@Shamsy @Stegel

Thanks guys, I'll record it, but label it as possible gimei.  The mon looks really good.

Hmmmm..... so we have a duplicate use for the "saka" stamp, unless this chart is simply showing that the Osaka Army Arsenal Supervisory Section had a position at the Osaka University research facility.  That's possible I suppose.

What say you, @Kiipu?

Can anyone say which generation Yasutsugu this was?

11 hours ago, John C said:

First Factory of Osaka University Army [military] research facility.

Is this the name at the top of this section of the chart?  If so, the "Saka" is under them too.

On 4/5/2024 at 3:05 PM, John C said:

you note a "KA" symbol with unknown purpose. I found the same mark on a Japanese Red Cross medal. According to Peterson's Orders and Medals of Japan, he says this was used as a kind of mint mark. Unfortunately, he doesn't say from which facility. But if there were a facility that made both swords and

John, just had to add this to the conversation. It is blocked by people walking by, but you can see a giant neon “KA“ in the back of the room. It’s in one of the scenes of the movie The Beekeeper.

I am on my phone, so I can’t type the Japanese katakana character, but in English it is RE 524.

The tassel is either something right out of box, never used (I have one like that), or a modern reproduction.  John, @PNSSHOGUN, is the guy to ask.

Brian summarized it pretty well.  The Japanese did not use damascus steel.  The fittings are the best replication I've ever seen for these kind of fakes, but like Brian pointed out the ito (fabric wrap) material and the direction of the folds is classic Chinese.

Thanks for posting this Nicholas!  This was posted a few years ago by Dale, @DGARBUTT, here:

He had never posted the serial number, but thanks to you, we now have it!  @BANGBANGSAN, Trystan, believed (as stated in that thread) that these were probaby presented to high ranking Railway Police officers or railway Directors.  You already know it's a Mantetsu Koa Isshin blade.  The date is Spring, 1941, and the inscription says:

贈

吉林

哈爾浜

斉々哈爾

各鉄道局

Presented by the railway companies of 

Jilin

Harbin

Qiqihar

Thanks to @SteveM

And to your point of it being the only one ever observed - I thought yours was going to be #2, but I see they are exactly the same blade.

2 hours ago, John C said:

if there were a facility that made both swords and medals........

Nice find, John!  Maybe we can chat up the medals collectors over on Warrelics to see if anyone knows company names.

Thanks to @Beater (I hadn't noticed it before), you can see the stamp on the neck of the haikan (belt hangar loop assembly) also!

Deborah,

Each arsenal, both army and navy, had their own quality inspectors who used approval stamps.  The "Saka" stamp is the inspector stamp of the Osaka Army Arsenal.  They are simply approval/acceptance stamps.  You'll find them on other weapons as well.  An intact Saka stamp would look like this:

12 hours ago, Steves87 said:

I found these two in George Trotter's book

Those are quite nice, thanks Stephen!

You should post that one on the Clasped Hands Sarute thread.  I only see one other photo with a faint lines like yours on John's photo there.

Well, it's a real character, alrighty!  Like John said, the tassel is clearly wrong/fake.  The tsuba/seppa set is made for a sword with leather-covered wooden saya, or this sword originally had a leather cover that is now missing.  But there would normally be the remnants of a leather wrap on the tsuka where the snap strap was attached.  

You photos, except one, are too blurry to judge the fittings.  Can we get some close-up, clear shots of metal fittings?  Also, I don't see a photo of the bare blade without habaki, showing the machi (notches where nakago meets blade) alignment.  Maybe I asked for that on another thread, but don't remember.

Another sign is the proportion of the nakago size to the blade size:

This one?

These really do seem to be on late war gunto.  Fairly low quality.

Wow, Thomas!  What a page of habaki!!!  We could practically shut this thread down and just send people there from now on, Ha!

My favorite on the page: