Bruce Pennington

Lev, Sorry to interject, I have nothing in answer to your questions (someone will!!!), but I'm fascinated by the tsuka. Like you say, it was re-fitted for Navy use. I find it interesting that they left the same' white. I personally haven't seen that many older blades converted for the navy, mostly army, so I don't have any background for comparison. (could this even account for some of the pictures in F & G of Naval officers wearing gunto with white same'?) Dave? Neil?

We've started a new chart to organize all these inspector stamps that Thomas has been I.D.ing for us! I'll add it to the Stamps Doc shortly. Inspector Chart.docx

Thomas, Fabulous stuff! Please see my PM on creating a new inspector chart. A new one! And while this one is actually engraved, like mei, it says "Inspected" Found here: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1021613

Luis, Don't know if you have this one already, but it's on a blade witht the mei: "Iwami no Kuni no ju Yoshikiyo saku," and the date was March 1945. There is a "Tai" stamp above the star, from the Izumo Seiko steel works. Located In Shimane. Located here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6628-iwami-yoshikoyo-gendaito/

I'm in!!!

I put the question to Kevin Jones, of Ryujin Swords. He said he'd see what he could discover about these.

When we started studying the kikusui "stamp" as a group, we realized it wasn't a stamp at all, but each one was handcrafted. Even stamps like the Seki and some Type 95 stamps have variations. I wouldn't be surprised if we found, upon further comparison to many examples, that the Star has plenty of variations too. I could be wrong, Luis. You are the one studying them. Fill us in on your progress as you go. I would enjoy learning more on them.

John, or Luis, is that the source of this blade - Showa22? If so, that adds another layer of doubt. It is true that many of the RJT smiths made both gendaito and showato. So it IS possible this was a showato, non-star, blade that someone post-war put the star to increase the value. I still say though, the stamp looks hot-stamped the way the metal splooshes (that official swordmith term!) around the stamp. I doubt any of our favorite shysters can hot-stamp a blade.

My understanding of the arsenals has always been slim-to-none. Help me understand this better, please. Did the Kokura Arsenal have "branch offices" in multiple cities? If so, do you know where? Was this true of the other arsenals?

Japaneseswordindex has Kiyotsugu listed in the RJT page: The following are known blades with star stamps by Jumei Tosho swordsmiths. Miyairi Shohei (Akihira) Niigata Akihisa Hiragawa Akimitsu Kasuga Seizou Tokoro Harumoto Chikuzen (no) Kuni ju Muto Hidehiro Hidemine Chikuzen ju Kajihara Hiromitsu Ikusa no Kajitsu Hisakuni Yoshu Seiunshi Hisatsugu Noshu ju Kuriyama Kaneaki (star + Kitae stamp) Kaneharu Noshu ju Kanehide (star + Seki stamp) Seki ju Kanehide Noshu ju Kanehisa (Kojima) Kanemichi (star +Showa stamp) Noshu Seki ju Kanemichi Takeuchi Kanemitsu Seki Kanemoto Kanenaga (star +Seki stamp) Noshu ju Kanenobu Noshu Seki ju Kanenori Kaneshige (star + Seki stamp) Noshu ju (Morita) Kaneshige Seki ju Kanetomo (star + Seki stamp) Noshu ju (Murayama) Kanetoshi (star + Seki stamp) Gunma Imae Kanetsugu Joshu ju Imai Kanetsugu Seki ju Kanetsugu Tsushima Kanetsugu Kawai Kaneyoshi Inoue Katsukiyo Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun Zoheisho Katsunobu Yoshida Katsunori Sanjo ju Fujiwara Kazunori (may also be read as Ichinori) Oki Kuni ju Kikumitsu (star + tai stamp) Senshu Kiyokane Choshu ju Kiyokune Izumo (no) Kuni Kiyomitsu Choshu ju Kiyotsugu <<<<<<<<----------- Hizen ju Kunimitsu Mori Kunitoshi Noshu ju Kunitoshi (same as Mori Kunitoshi) Sendai Kunitsugu

Thomas,On this post, you mentioned the Matsuyama branch office. In a recent email, Richard Fuller mentioned a "Matsuyama shop." Are we talking about the same thing? Was Matsuyama a sword and/or koshirae manufacturer? Or is this just an Army arsenal inspector organization? On a connected note, it just occured to me that the "matsu" and "yama" stamps are probably 2 peas-in-a-pod - from the same inspection office - Matsuyama - just like the 2 Type 95 stamps of the Kobe factory we just figured out. Matsu yama

Interesting icon change, did you go Game of Thrones White Walker on us?!?

Is it Luis? Please go to your settings and add at least a first name, forum rules, thanks! It is a peculiar star, isn't it! It actually looks like it was hot-stamped into the steel, rather than a cold stamp. There are some guys who are quite knowledgable on the RJT operation, which is where you'll see lots of star stamped blades. Maybe one of them will take a look at it. If you search "star stamp" or "RJT" on the forum, you should be able to find them, and maybe shoot them a PM. Do you you the smith's name on this one? Was he an RJT smith? If not, that would invalidate the star.

Thank you Moriyama-san! That nailed it. Chris, sorry to say, but it's John's not mine. I plan to get one of these for my collection, but have too many things ahead of it to chase one down yet. John, you got a good deal on that one! They normally run in the $1,200 range!

All, Anyone recognize this writing? It's on a kyu blade. I've seen similar writing on the handguard of a navy dirk. If memory serves, isn't it some sort of old religious writing? I'm adding a side-by-side with the image flipped incase I've got is upside down.

Thomas, It's tempting, but I just don't see it. See comparison below. I have a vague memory of an older Japanese wrtiting style (started with an S, I think) that was often used on older blades. Might have been religious based. I think this writing is of that style.

Here is a more clear picture of that one. Hopefully someone will be able to translate!

Latest update, 4.1, on the Stamps Document. Been making some big headway with the research guys like Thomas have been handing us. Latest version is updated on the Kobe and Mizuno Type 95 stamps, as well as the just discussed Company stamp. Might be some cosmetic streamlining as well. Thanks to all who have been keeping this going!

Thank you, again, Thomas! I've moved the stamp out of the "Unknowns" category.

Here's one John! Just look at the length of that nakago!!! Found here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18864-ho-no-to-kenma-project/page-3

I agree Thomas, I've made the correction to 367. Trystan, Are you in contact with the owner? I'd like to see if there is anything under the habaki. With that much pitting in the nakago, it is very easy to be misled. Plus, what looks like "Nu" to me is way too close to the first 8. Usually there is a bit of space between them, and often the katakana is just under the edge of the habaki. Can you ask him for a picture without habaki?

Yes, you're right about that!

Someone spent some extra bucks on this one!

Wow, that is the same sword! $750 to $3,000 - quite a mark-up.

It is a nice one Tom! What is the inscription? Is it a dedication?