Bruce Pennington

Yeah, rechecked everything and no SE 1144. Must have made a mistake. I corrected the chart, now, thanks. Have 21 on file: Manchurian Rinji Seishiki (MRS) Fittings Date Serial Number Notes Source 1. 1938 Winter N 156 SMR IJASWORDS, NMB 2. 1942 Spring Unknown Sohei swords/ebay 3. 1944 Spring SE 489 Ren ebay 4. 1944 Spring SE 1029 Ren 5. 1944 Spring SE 1066 Ren 6. 1944 Spring SE 1251 7. 1944 Spring SE 1310 Ren Leather Saya Cvr 8. 1944 Spring SE 1344 Ren 9. 1944 Spring SE 1413 Ren Conway, NMB 10. 1944 Spring No serial number Ren Gold Saya Worthpoint 11. 1944 Spring SE 2430 Ren 連工 12. 1944 Spring SE 2431 Ren 連工 Matt Jerrel, NMB 13. 1944 Spring SE 2575 Ren 連工 14. 1944 Spring SU 10 Ren 連工 15. 1944 Spring ? 199 Ren 連工 16. 1945 I 88 Mumei Conway, NMB 17. 1945 I 142 Unknown Fuller 18. 1945 I 164 Mumei St Croix swords 19. 1945 I 165 Mumei Remilitaria.com 20. 1945 I 285 Mumei ND blade only Steve, NMB 21. 1945 I 1170 Mumei ND

Mike, I didn't go through all 118, but in the 30 or so I found 4. Here's one, one of the two that came with the PX souvenir letter. Signed Hiratoshi, with no painted number: It is an odd thing. The nakago doesn't have an ana there, so can't imagine the purpose of the peg. I have one other 95: Mei Date Anchor Fittings Kabu finish Jiri Finished? # Source 88. Takeyasu ND Small Standard Texture Yes, shaped 95 Michaelr, NMB 89. Mumei ND Large Standard sarute Unknwn No 95 Smallsword; ebay

August '43 Kanehide Oct '43 (don't have one legible of full nakago) Aug '44

Ricky, You have what was originally a very nice Japanese Naval officer's sword, or kaigunto, with upgraded stingray skin covered saya (scabbard). The signature is "Tenshozan made" a shortened version of the normal "Tenshozan Tanrenjo made" or Tenshozan Forging Workshop. The blade is stainless steel, and the anchor stamp is of the Navy's Tenshozan inspector. I assume there is no date on the other side? I only have one other blade with this shortened mei. The hash marks match the stamped numbers 223. Unusual method of writing it, though, as they actually say "twenty two three". Usually you will see "two two three" in the hash marks. Nothing special, just interesting. I'm not sure about the small stamp at the end. It could be "11" or the Japanese 2 "=", or a square. Hard to say.

Excellent, Michael, that's a beauty! I may be wrong, but I believe that is Takeyasu. Here's an example that is easier to read: Hard to tell from your photo the size of the anchor stamp. Can you give a measure of it's diameter?

John, I don't know if you have all the Kanehide I have on file. In addition to the ones on this thread, I have 6 with painted numbers. Here's a list. If you don't have some or all, let me know and I'll post them: Kanehide (star stamped) Aug '43 Black/Red paint Oct '43 Black/Red paint Aug '44 Green/Blue Aug '44 Green/Blue Mar '44 Red/Blue May '44 Blue A90/90 @JohnC

Ditto! I'd love to add that one to my star stamped list, @Paul G

I don't see 1144 in the chart or my files. Do you have a reference? I have a 1344 on file. Possibly when it was first found we saw the large strokes and missed the smaller strokes of the 3?

Ah, I see. This one being - 42224

That's a good point. Can't say I've ever seen a legit mei placed with the shinogi running smack through the center. Certainly a little overlap, but not like this.

Are you referring to a painted number?

Thanks Conway, I've got that one down as "1143". There is a pretty good space between the two ones.

I think you're right, Conway. The blade looks Japanese. Very faint 'feather' yasurime visible on the undated date side if you zoom in. Highly buffed, acid washed. The fittings look like late war, low quality stuff, and the mei .... I have seen discussions of legit old blades with ugly mei, so I know they exist, but we'd need some of the nihonto guys like @Ray Singer to give us a look. When you zoom in, you can see the mei was chiseled in with many small taps.

Agreed. Stamped numbers on habaki, poor imitation fittings, Damascus steel.

Agreed. Yoshimichi was the smith, dated March 1945. Excessively buffed. Rinji seishiki model (contingency model; commonly called Type 3). Late war tsuka, not as good a quality as you can find with other Rinji gunto.

This one was #7 on the first thread, and the smith is Yoshimitsu. The blade looks legit, but someone has done an acid wash to highlight the hamon.

#7 looks like Yoshimitsu

Jake, Are these follow-up photos of the swords in your first post with all the nakago? Do they match the order in the first post?

Type 98 Japanese officer sword. That's all that can be said from those photos.

There is hamon visible in that last photo of the kissaki, so probably highly buffed.

You did well, Kris. We often see spots and stains, especially at the tip, both officer and NCO blades. I think moisture gets in and sits in the end of the saya causing the stains. My RJT blade has even more stains than that.

Posting a photo for the future. Imgur links often go dead after a few years:

Hi Patrick, Could you do us a favor and post a photo of the full length nakago (tang) and a couple shots of the blade? You have a Navy Officer sword, or kaigunto, that had a combat saya (scabbard) originally covered in leather. The leather covers often go missing over time. You can read about them here: Navy Officer Gunto - Ohmura site Here's a good page for caring for your sword: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com

Interesting! In Tachi fittings. I only have 6 Kanesumi blades on file, and 3 of them are in non-standard fittings - 1 Gunzoku; one Type 95; and this tachi. FWIW the mei of each varies more than "normal", so while this one is the poorest cut, it doesn't surprise me.