Bruce Pennington

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.

I sent a message to the seller. Hopefully he'll fix his title and description.

Posting photos The guys have already said it all. The finish on the handle, guard, and blade are all artificially applied during production and cannot be restored if you accidentally remove them by trying to buff, sand, or "clean". All you can do with these dress swords is rub them down with a soft cloth and oil, then wipe clean. The nakago on these come out the pommel end and are hammered round, like a rivet. Don't try to remove.

Years of steady, my friend! And specializing in that kind of thing. The fittings are a quality upgrade. The pierced tsuba and 8 seppa are always on quality swords.