Bruce Pennington

Bob, Any chance of getting some direct, clear shots of the mei on that one? I see the Ujifusa mentioned above, but it seems like there is a Kanenao at the end.

Jon, Could I get a close, clear shot of this mark at the end:

Sorry or resurrecting old threads, but wanted to note the smith on this is Masahiro, for future searches/research. @mecox

Late to the game on this one and I'm just getting familiar with the Takayama forge and their swords. Mal had a section on the forge in his Japanese Naval Swords, which was published after this thread. Just updating in case someone reads the thread doing research. Their blades were mostly in naval fittings, but some are found in army koshirae. Concerning the narrow blade tip, I don't think all the blades made by the forge had the stereotypical Takayama style. Most of the posts I'm finding online don't show the whole blade, just nakago, but I'm pretty sure I've seen a few with normal, narrower tips. On Ujifusa, so far, I haven't seen another. There is this one made by Ujinaga: @mecox

This takayama forge blade seems to have two smiths at the bottom? Is it saying that the blade was made by 2 smiths? Masano and ? Oops, found the translation: Anyway here are the translations for the inscription. 謹作高山刀 – Respectfully made Takayama-To 刀匠 石原正直 – Sword smith: Ishihara Masanao 研師 木村忠兼 – Polisher: Kimura Tadakane by @Nobody on this January 2009 post.

@Ray Singer @SteveM Any thoughts on the inked writing on the habaki?

Hi Jon! Your sword is a navy sword, called a kaigunto (army swords are gunto, "kai" is navy). It would help to see an overall photo of the whole rig, but it seems to be a late-war (last year of the war) kaigunto. They are Type 97 (style released in 1937) and you can read all about them on Ohmura's site: Navy Officers Tachi - Ohmura He also has a page on the anti-rust blades: Stainless Steel Sword

Ok, I see it. Must have some yellow paint in it. I just realized we are talking about the RJT smith Tsugukiyo. I have a few of his blades on file, many without star, but many with stamped numbers. Some have a "saka + number" on the nakago mune (back edge of tang). Have you checked the back edge of the nakago for stamps? As for a star, it would be above the mei (might have to remove all fittings to see it), however with no date, it's unlikely to have a star stamp. Let me know what you find!

El, I saw nothing in either Fuller's nor Dawson's books that specified Swedish rail steel, just simply "imported western steels". What I DID find was a reference to it in Leon Kapp & Yoshinndo Yoshihara's book "Modenr Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths, From 1868 to the Present.

Sean, You have a highly collectable sword there! Emura, even if he is middle rated, is popular in collecting circles because of his story. The whole sword is called a Type 98 Japanese officer sword, or "gunto" which is "army sword." You can read all about them on Ohmura's great site: Type 98 Gunto - Ohmura and everything about all the rest of the WWII swords: Military Swords of Imperial Japan - Gunto

Thanks for getting back, Paul. As to value, a non-traditionally made blade certainly goes for less on the market than a nihonto/gendaito, however a standard WWII officer sword still sells from $900 - 1,400 USD. That's more than I have in my hobby money account! Ha!

Those are great, Lawrence, thank you! Nice sword, and nice presentation. The last kanji on the date is 秋 aki Autumn, so it was made Autumn 1939. They started approximately April 1939, so yours came out about 3/4 of the year's production.

Thanks Scott! Worth a try. I think there's a small Na stamp above the date, but too hard to make out. Best wishes with the little one!

delete, posted on wrong thread.

Like the broken clock, I'm bound to get one right now and then!

Hey, who needs A.I. - I can prove Abe Lincoln shot JFK. I have a photo of him with the rifle!

Hi Frank, There are guys that give a more comprehensive history, but essitially, the Kikumon indicated the smith was on retainer with the Shogunate. Awaiting smith name translation, but appears maybe "Kanesada"? I don't have any blades with that name and a Kikumon. And forgive me, but while the mei looks great, that Kiku looks like it was cut by a small child! Like maybe it was added later by someone that really didn't know how to do it. Hope I'm wrong, but Youzee Wowzee!

Yikes! Thanks Mal. Doesn't happen as often anymore, but I still get 5's and 6's mixed up sometimes. I'll correct the chart and file!

I'll give you a couple links, but the article we wrote, that Thomas link above, extensively includes all known sources. You will find interesting stuff on the following, but they won't have near as much as our all-encompassing article. The Whole Aspect of the Koa Isshin Sword -Ohmura Koa Isshin Mantetsu - Japaneseswordindex.com Mantetsu - South Manchurian Railway Sword - Our Article

A June 1942 Hiromasa, sent to me via email from Robinalexander. Nakago only photos. Has the Yama Ho stamps. @mecox Just a reminder. We had been discussing a June '42 Masatsugu on another thread and it was said that it might have been too early for the RJT star to be present. After logging this Hiromasa, I was reminded of 3 earlier blades: STAR Blades 1941, Jun Gifu Kanetoshi, Murayama T98 Bangbangsan, NMB 1942, Feb Saga Masatsugu Ganko, NMB 1942, Mar Gunma Kanetsugu RS Ganko, NMB 1942, Spring Gifu Kanenobu RS Ganko, NMB 1942, Jun May Ehime Hiromasa Robinalexander, email 1942, June Saga Masatsugu Na Ho on mune Shuriken, NMB 1942, Aug Akita Chikamitsu 406 Peter(C),NMB 1942, Aug Saga Masatsugu Kapp/Monson,pg82 1942, Aug Fukushima Shigefusa Ho on mune MeCox, NMB 1942, Aug Tokyo Sukehiro 1525 Slough, pg 162 1942, Aug Saga Yoshitada ebay 1942, Sep Saga Kanemoto Na Ho on mune Zentsuji2, NMB 1942, Sep Kumamoto Morinobu 94; Ho Ho mune 1942, Autumn Niwa Kanenobu Slough So June '42 wasn't too early.

Yes! Pristine fittings! Thanks for the added photos. Turns out we already have that blade on file. Trystan - @BANGBANGSAN - brought some photos to us back in May. Don't know where he saw it. He didn't have fittings photos, though, so glad you posted! Serial is "HO 171" which puts it in the 5th series of blades Mantetsu made. Assuming they used the fiscal year on their dating, we're talking Feb - Apr 1940 with your blade.

Paul, Is there a smaller stamp above the signature line, possibly underneath the metal fittings?

Hi J! If you pull the bamboo peg and slide the rest of the hardware off the blade, we can see the full signature. Also, it would be nice to get a shot of the full sword in fittings, and bare blade, full length. You might have an older, family blade there that has been re-fitted for WWII. The tsuba (handguard) is civilian while the other hardware shown is military. It is common to see a mixture of civil/military parts on the civil blades refitted for the war.

Is that something WE can do as we "chat" with it? Or is that something that is set in stone before the bot is released into the wild?

It is under the handle on the back edge of the tang.