Bruce Pennington

I'll join in. Out of my 21 swords, I only had 1 polished. It was my dad's Mantetsu and I spent 3 years getting it returned to its original glory (probably better than original). The rest, like you say, are as they came to me. Well, I take every one apart that I get and clean it of dirt, debris, active rust, etc, and oil all the parts. One could argue that leaving the dirt and grime is preserving their history. But the "preserving" part is important to me and dirt and grime aren't preservative. Now, to play devil's advocate - for someone to receive my dad's Mantetsu several decades from now, my restoration job and polish, to them, WILL be part of the blade's path. Even Bubba, badly done, becomes the "life of the blade."

Considering all of John's points, it is moderately likely the blade is an older blade donated, brought, or bought for the war, remounted in military fittings. As such, it's quite possible it's traditionally made. Having said that, we could all be wrong and it's simply a WWII showato re-fitted for one reason or another. Seeing the nakago, and close-ups of the hamon (temper line) would help.

You'll find a few mon experts on this thread, if you care to post yours there:

Lots of 'personality' on both of those! And that backstrap rig is pretty rare! Good luck with the sale, they both deserve a good home!

Thanks PIers! While I've seen this discussed briefly in various threads, over time, I've never had the time to sit and get a real understanding of the practice. I'm gaining a gradual comprehension of the language and concept of it all, slowly, so your explanation helps and is appreciated.

Wow! Wish that was in color.

The mei looks the same to me. Sesko only lists 1 Showa era Amahide, but that doesn't mean there weren't more of them during the war. Isn't "Ichimongi" one of those honorary titles smiths sometimes gave themselves? Or a "tip 'o the hat" to the Ichimongi school of swordmaking?

I am not aware of any mandatory programs to give up swords. You can read about the government's efforts to get families to donate or sell their swords for the war effort here: https://www.warrelic...blades-gunto-688110/ Now, as we are all aware, official documents don't always tell the whole story when it comes to local politics and power elites. Maybe she lived in an area where families faced public shame if they didn't join everyone else donating swords. That could be a cultural aspect of her recollection. Someone else will have to answer your naganita question.

That's a deal, considering the polish would cost more than the asking price!

Good info, George! Your idea about the numbers sounds quite possible. So, the guy doing the numbers might have had 200 blades come to his stamping station that month but from several smiths. I like it!

So, Bunkyu 3 = 1863, right? So, help me understand the purpose of "亥" after the 3? But the date is August 1863, right? Also, I filed that chart you posted and found I had already saved a large version of that chart! Dang. I just need to see enough of these blades to begin recognizing the date style for what it is.

Thanks Klaus, but we have the date. It was just deciphering the poorly struck serial number that had any question to it.

Is that male or female!? Ha!

Scott, Welcome to the Learning Curve! We've all been there. Start with these common fakes: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/gallery/category/7-fake-Japanese-swords/

Thanks for the exercise! I finally got one right, ha! HISAKAZU (久一), Keiō (慶応, 1865-1868), Ise – “Tenryūshi Tachibana Hisakazu” (天龍子立花久一), “Kiso ni oite Tenryūshi Tachibana Hisakazu” (於木曾天龍子橘久一), “Seishū ni oite Tenryūshi Tachibana Hisakazu” (於勢州天龍子橘久一), real name Tachibana Heizaemon (立花平左衛門), he signed his family name also with the characer (橘), gō Tenryūshi (天龍子), he came originally from Katakai (片貝) in Echigo province but moved eventually to Yamada (山田) in Ise province, he studied under Ozaki Suketaka (助隆) and also worked in Kiso (木曾), Sakai (堺), and in Ōmi, we know blades from the Keiō to the Meiji era (明治, 1868-1912), chūjō-saku But I still can't get the dates if they use something other than standard numbers. I see Bunkyu (1861) 3 ? year August month a Day. What's that kanji after the 3?

Thanks Oliver! I think you're right, Thomas. I have another of his, same date, タ2374 with star, and was wondering about him making that many blades in the same month - 177 - but I also have a similar situation with him, 201 numbers apart in the same month, the previous year 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 618 RS star Schmucker Collection 1943, Mar Niigata Akihisa (RJT) 松 819 RS star Vajo, Trotter Survey So maybe he had a team making blades for him.

Adding a link to the Canvas Saya Covers thread in an effort to consolidate relevant topics.

Seems to be a large Seki stamp, possibly partially obscured or filed off?

Hi Oliver! Any chance this is a star-stamped gendaito?

Nick, You sound like you'd like to work on stuff yourself. Here are a couple of useful places to work out names: On the Home page of this site, upper right corner is a pop-up window of name kanji: A site I use quite a bit is: Seki Smiths (japaneseswordindex.com) Very easy to use, but the writing on blades is often quite hard to make out, so good luck! There are a few common ones that you will start recognizing like "Kane" and a couple others. But it can be tough. I don't remember where I got it, but there is a free downloadable pdf of Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan, that give a brief synopsis of many smiths. For care of your sword, read this: https://japaneseswordindex.com/care.htm Your gunto is a Type 98 in combat saya or as Ohmura calls it "informal saya". You can read all about these on Ohmura's free, excellent site: Military Swords of Imperial Japan (Guntō) (ohmura-study.net)

Rob, To get back to your original question, It's a Type 98 Japanese officer sword. The brown/blue tassel is for company grade officers - Lt's & Capt's. The Type 98 was made from 1938-1945, yours being made in 1943. You can read up on the style sword on Ohmura's excellent site here: Military Swords of Imperial Japan (Guntō) (ohmura-study.net) Lots of history there and excellent photos.

I am way out of my league, so that's why I'm asking for you Nihonto guys to comment. Evidence? The only evidence I know to look for is the "black peaks" in the tops of the hamon waves. I see none, therefore, I assume water quench. If you see some, please show me. Otherwise, I know nothing else to look for. Edit: My observation was based upon the first set of photos. Now, after seeing the latest, I believe the black peaks are here???:

A guy over on Wehrmacht-awards had a couple of tsuka screws made and only needed 1. So he's wanting to find someone who needs the other one. First guy to respond gets it. And please only someone that needs it for their 95, not someone just wanting to sell it on fleabay. Thanks.

Remember the adage: "never say never, nor always with WWII gunto!"

Really nice sword, Rob! The numbers on the end of your tsuka are "34" and might match numbers on your metal fittings like seppa and tsuba. Boy, that hamon sure looks water quenched to me. Any of you nihonto guys care to evaluate?