Bruce Pennington

This is what Sesko has on him: "NOBUMITSU (信光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Nobumitsu” (信光), real name Sakō Shin´ichi (佐光信一), born June 24th 1905, student of Kojima Katsumasa (小島勝正), he worked as guntō smith and died July 21st 1993, ryōkō no retsu (Akihide)" Waiting to see the small stamp at the top, but it's likely to be a Showa stamp, which puts this blade into the 1935-1942 date range (most likely 1940-41). A good many of his blades have been found in civil fittings, which might explain the 2 ana (holes) in this nakago, as it was obviously re-fitted during the war. Hard to put a dollar value, but $1,000 plus or minus a couple hundred is a good ball park, depending upon your budget.

OOOOOO ..... this is a 1939 blade! Waiting for pictures!

I see what you are seeing, John, but in my experience, the large Seki stamp is always (I know - never say never nor always!) on the other side of the shinogi line, like this: I think there is a removed star on the other side:

As a temporary measure (or permanent if you like it) you can buy wooden/bamboo chopsticks and cut to fit. There are a few for sale on ebay. I bought a set of 3 that way myself, a while back. Pricey, but good ones, From Japan (price includes shipping) Cheap, but not darkened (something you could do yourself) "Black horn" mekugi; mid-priced I imagine some of the dealers might sell some quality ones.

Guy, at W-A, said: "高塚 Takatsuka / Kōtsuka /Kōzuka 尾崎 Ozaki"

And that was 1938! I believe Ohmura mentions the practice in passing, though I don't think he placed it in a timeframe. I've grown more cautious these days in labeling odd swords as fake. I know they are out there, and some of them are quite obvious. But I'm certain there have been many swords that fell into the category of the book quote that have been mistakenly called fake, over the years. @BANGBANGSAN - The quote doesn't specify, are the swords being made for Japanese or Chinese troops?

A black painted officer sword posted by RonR on this Wehrmacht-awards Thread. Solid provenance says it was never in post-war G.I. or collector's hands, meaning it is in wartime condition:

Akira Komiya made a very interesting post today on this Wehrmacht-awards Thread. He covered a number of topics ranging from army tsuba, to RS and Zoheito, issue of Type 95s to officers. Here's the part about the army tsuba gold plating: "I checked the specifications of the Type 94 and Type 98 swords regarding the piercing of the Tsuba and found that there is no mention of piercing so it is possible that such was an optional feature. (The specifications only state that there should be four raised engraving cherry blossoms on all four corners of both the obverse and reverse of the Tsuba and does not specify that the Tsuba be pierced.) As for your sword, in the history of the Type 94/ 98 officer's swords, 1941 would not be considered "early" as it would already have seen various austerity measures applied in connection with the rapid expansion of the armed forces and the commensurate increase in the demand for swords as well as the shift towards the wartime economy. For example, the specifications for both the Type 94 and Type 98 swords specify that the Tsuba be made of gold plated brass but the use of gold plating would later be abolished in connection with a series of directives issued by the Ministry of Finance in 1937 and 1938."

Ok, thanks guys!

Dated 1817, earliest one I've seen. Are you saying it's gimei?

It seems so random.

I'm guessing the stamp was of a forge, in a similar fashion to Amahide's Tan Rej Jo. He had a hotstamp that has been seen on 4 other smiths' blades that worked at his forge. Maybe @mecox can confirm that Yoshisuke and Yoshichika worked together at a single forge/shop?

Really cool to see the matching number painted on the saya liner! Great sword, Adam!

Nice looking gunto, Mick. For guys that love the leather covers, this is a plus, as it's pretty rare to see one that still has the leather retention tab on the tsuka. Good luck with the sale.

Ok, I only have blades of 3 of the others. Two look to be suguha hamon, but the third is almost identical to yours Suguha Didn't record source, but I think this was from AOI Art This was posted by Mathias_AC at Wehrmacht-awards Here's the one with similar hamon, found on a Komonjo sale:

Coming up, but first, that small stamp on your seppa is the Nakano Shoten logo. "Located in Tokyo, this comany was owned by Mr. Nakano. In additon to Tokyo, the company had shops in China. The company provided a full range of koshirae."

I've seen a few photos over the years that seem to show a kaigunto with white same'. This photo, posted on this Gunboards Thread, is the most clear one I've seen. What do you guys think? Bright light glaring off shiny black lacquered rayskin? Family blade with navy saya (cannot see the kabutogane); I have seen one like that before.

I have 4 other Yoshisuke blades with the stamp and 1 Yoshichika, noted by Thomas above. None are dated. 3 are in kaigunto fittings, the other 2 in Type 98.

Another 3-pointed label found on a 1941 Kanenori blade, posted by Blue Orchid on this Wehrmacht-awards thread.

Here's a sad one for you, John! Mumei blade, sale by Centurion Auctions HERE.

Standard late war kaigunto for sale by Centurion Auction HERE. Stamped with a small "90" and Toyokawa anchor. Note the one-piece fuchi/seppa

FYI: Site is very slow this morning - 5:30am to present 6:15am Mountain Time USA

That's a really nice looking gunto! Assuming the seller has the date correctly, that's the latest date I have for the Yama stamp, and the latest date I have of a Hiromasa blade. I can clearly see the star. And I see no reason to doubt the originality of the habaki. Springs of '45 is quite late in the war. Many parts were being made with lower quality standards by that time. @mecox

That is a considerable amount of play in the fuchi! Before seeing it, I was going to point out that wood can dry and create some looseness in parts, like the haikan (hanger ring), but that fuchi is way too loose, IMHO, to be original.

The seller replied with a "Thanks" and has either removed the sale or changed the name of the sale, as I no longer can find the item under that title.