Bruce Pennington

Good post, Conway! This is a late-war kaigunto, note the lacquered leather/fabric instead of rayskin. We have seen Takeyasu blades in late war kai as well as in post-war souvenirs. So, he was working in the last year of the war, probably. He has been of interest to @Jcstroud in the souvenir sword discussion - Who Was Toyosuke?

Brian called that one right!

After resurrecting this thread and reviewing my files, I was surprised to see a single line for the river on a Yoshihisa blade posted by @wakiboy that I had not posted here. His thread is HERE.

Jeremy, You call learn a lot about the Japanese officer sword variations on Ohmura's site here: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html You can find a discussion of the kikusui, or chrysanthemum floating of a river, on the thread below. Briefly, it was: "According Dan King, “A Tomb Called Iwo Jima,” the crest we know today as the Kikusui was the clan crest of a 14th Century Samurai, Kusunoki-Masa-sige , who fought to the death proclaiming “But that I had seven lives to give to the Emperor!” (at least the saying is attributed to him). “The Japanese military used … the crest … as a symbol of devotion and self-sacrifice. The Navy adopted Minatogawa Jinja as their sacred shrine.”

Artfully crafted kikusui on a silver foiled habaki. Posted by @fourth alarm HERE.

I started late, age 59. Dad died and I got his Mantetsu and got hooked. Now to your title's question, my first nihonto came when I was looking to add an nice kaigunto to my collection. A dealer was selling a beat-up, bedraggled one, but I went ahead and bought it as it had a Fujiwara mon, a decent leather cover, sharkskin saya cover (though bad shape) and the coup-de-grace - a Muromachi era blade. I later did find a great looking kai, but that old one was my first nihonto.

Does the hole in the leather not line up with the mekugi?

Dang, thanks guys. I had a strong feeling I'd posted this before, but couldn't find it. I had the file started but had not updated it from our earlier conversation. Done!

On a blade dated Meiji 33.

Dawson shows the same backstrap as yours on page 311, and says they are for police Lt's. He talks of police carrying swords since they were created in 1874, so I'd think the use of your sword would align with it's overall production from 1899 to 1936, though they were carried through the end of the war in 1945. I don't see a way to narrow the date down more than that.

OOOPS! Thanks Russ!!! Trying to type and watch TV at the same time. Should know better. Yes, the bohi should be quite close to the TSUBA. Ha.

Don't know if your friend will need some points to bring to the seller, but just a few: The stamps are wrong. It has the logo of 2 different sword shops - Suya shoten and "Gifu". NCO swords were made by a single shop, not 2 The stamps would indicate the sword was made for the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal, but the serial number is upside down if that were true. Only blades made for the Nagoya Arsenal were stamped to be read with the cutting edge up. The bohi, or fuller groove starts too far down the blade. None of the shops, nor arsenals, made blades with a bohi like that. It should be very close to the habaki (brass collar). Edit: "tsuba" (thanks Russ!) Those are some blatantly obvious errors. There are more subtle errors that are harder to describe, but the 3 above are conclusive that this was a fake.

Paris, You might get your answers on this forum, but all the tsuba guys hang on on this forum: Tosogu - Nihonto Message Board (militaria.co.za) You'll find the answers to the "2 hole" question here:

Wow, that is a great deal for someone!

69, started at age 54.

Ah, good point! And thanks for the clear photos! I was being thrown off by what appeared to be a third number, but that turned out to be a "W" stamp.

I don't know your answer, but I found this thread posted by @Kiipu, working with @BANGBANGSAN and Nick Komiya:

Eeeeeeek! It hurts my eyes! I hope they can get their money back.

Linking 2 similar 32s over at Gunboards: Type 32 Japanese Sword Question Type 32 Sword and Type 30 Bayonet - Paint?

Kurt, Both of your pics of the habaki are slightly blurred. Any chance of getting a clear shot of that? Wanting to see the fine detail inside each hexagon.

Also, @Kyle68 - could I get a clear, closeup of that number on the end, please?

"W" stamped for those tracking them. @Kiipu

I know there are 1 or 2 guys who collect things like this, but not many, so your responses may be slow in coming. We've seen several come through over the years. Are you are just looking for guys that own them to post?

Lun @Suci Any small stamps near the top, or on the back edge?

Wow, never seen anything like it. Thought maybe Plimpton would have it, but I don't see it there. In the back of Dawson, he has several highly customized swords of all kinds (not yours, unfortunately). I suspect your is, too. He states the 3-5-3 is found on Sonin-level Court and Diplomatic swords.