Bruce Pennington

With the left side hidden in corrosion, it will take one of the Translation Sensei guys to see this for what it is!

You're right on the Seki stamp, Barry. Can you show a picture of it in perspective of the nakago in size? It appears to be the large Seki. There were large ones and small ones, and little is known as to whether they mean different things. Some speculate that the larger one is of the Seki Swordsmith Guild and not an army inspection stamp, which is the small one. But I've never seen confirmation on that anywhere. To my understand, though, both are there at Army orders to indicate a blade was non-traditionally made. If the blade can be dated before 1938, which is when it is often stated (again no documentation) that the stamping was ordered, then the mark MAY not be saying "non-traditional" but simply approved by the Gild. Guys like that theory because, then, their blades may be considered nihonto, but I don't like it. Stamping started because the sword-world got tired of not knowing which swords were nihonto or showato

Marsel, The humid climate there is pretty brutal on swords, isn't it! I think I see "Kane" as the first kanji. The third is likely "Saku" or "made this". Someone else might be able to help better.

Type 98 fittings on an older blade (Nihonto guys will have to estimate era, but I'd guess no older than 1700's). Family mon and open tsuba show a little extra money was spent by the officer having the blade mounted. Late-war tassel or as Nick Komiya states, officer equivalent Gunzuko. The mon was used by three Samurai lines - Asahina, Bessho, and Utsunomiya - but by WWII any family could adopt any crest, so no way to know if the owner was really from one of those lines.

You could try putting the address in Google Earth or a map app. Either one may have a "street view" at the location.

I see now, thanks!

I'm surprised at the lack of stamps. Michael - are there any small stamps on the back edge of the nakago (nakago mune)? Your blade is made in March of 1944 and the majority (in my experience) of the '44 blades were stamped. The blade is not nihonto, so it should have been stamped. It could simply be human error. Inspectors had hundreds of blades to look over and stamp. A guy is bound to miss some. The tassel is likely a post-war add-on. Looks like a curtain cord or something to that effect.

Ohmura

JP, That's a HUGE sori, right?! Seems pretty old, too. What era would be your opinion?

So, the blue ito was found on both army and navy gunto, I see. Interesting.

John, As someone less than a novice at nihonto, please forgive my question, but I don't see the dark spots you mention. Could you point it out for me? My thought was oil quenched, too though, as the hamon lacks the finer details normally seen on water quenched blades, right? Another rookie question: the blade does seem to have been folded, as there is texture to the skin (hada?). Do I have that right?

Wow! Very cool!!! Thanks for adding it.

Thanks Matt, I'll pass it on!

A guy on Gunboards looking for translation help. Thought I'd seek help here!

I'm not waiting! Here they are:

Sorry George, I literally forgot you had translated this earlier! When I saw Trystan's un-translated post, I sent it to Google and got bamboozled!

Great example, Doug, thanks!

Google translate: Sumitomo Yoshiharu

You forgot to subtract 1. Showa 17 - 1 + 1926 = 1942. I have read where (and I'm talking WAY out of my area of knowledge) the full mei is a sign the smith, himself, cut the mei, but the 2-character mei could be done by apprentice of mei-cutter. Could be off-base about that, though.

The gap could be from missing seppa. Don't see any on the blade-side of the tsuba, but they could be hidden by the angle of the photo. The tassel is quite faded. At first glance it's the all-brown. Reference books like Fuller/Dawson call this a "late-war army tassel", but new info from Nick Komiya points to the Gunzuko. They were authorized to carry army regulation gunto, but were to use the all-brown tassel. It could be a heavily faded Company grade tassel. When you get it, look for hidden blue in the weave. Oh, and I'm curious to see if that "sarute" is a period shoestring or a post-war fix.

I see I've turned this thread into a collection of habaki art! Here's one from a 17th century sword. And a nice 2-piece

If you plan to replace the sarute and remount the tassel, you an sometimes find replacement cloth sarute for sale. Otherwise, it would be completely acceptable to replace it with a metal one. I have no doubt that the original owner wouldn't have hesitated to do so, if it were broken during the war. Either way, you will find a tiny metal wedge inside the sarute barrel (which simply unscrews. I use a cloth to cover the ends of the barrel and grip them with pliers to gently unscrew the halves). I would keep that tiny wedge in a safe place as it would be very easy to lose, and you might find someone looking for one in the future.

Piers, I see it now, you're right! They aren't animals, simply the trunk, obscured in places by the gold remnants and cuts of the craftsman's tool.

I wonder if this Sukesada was claiming lineage (or smith-eage) to the Sukefusa Ichimonji line? " Old records convey a history in early KAMAKURA times, but the significant work was late-KAMAKURA when the BIZEN spotlight falls on YOSHIOKA. FUKUOKA SUKEFUSA line smiths transfer with ICHIMONJI style. YOSHIOKA ICHIMONJI period from SHO-O 1288 to GEN-KO 1331. Energy at FUKUOKA ceases in the late KAMAKURA as attention shifts to YOSHIOKA and OSAFUNE. I'd like to add the kiku and ichi to the Stamps Document (I know they aren't "stamps"), but am searching for an accurate description. I have a good feel for the "ichi" as representing the ichimonji shools of sword-making. But the kiku - I'm still looking for a good description. Were they claiming to be under contract of the Imperor/Shogun? Or was it just a personal style/choice like the Buddhist symbols on blades? Or somethinge else?

Al, That's a fabulous explanation, thank you! So do you think the smith was claiming to be working for the Emperor by using the kiku? Also, and this may be way off-base and useless information, but while cruising the list of Samurai mon, I found this one: But it would be upside-down on this blade, so that doesn't fit, plus the "Nasu" name is not being used in the mei at all. But knowing that there were many variations on every mon motif, I wonder if there is a chance that the one on this blade is intentionally flipped and adopted as the kamon of the commissioner of the blade?