Corry

All, One of my WW2 guntos has all matching seppa marked, "1". I think i am missing one of the 4 tabbed seppa (only one present)..fittings a just a bit loose. Any idea what the, "1" means? Is it 1mm? Here are pics of front and back. Most have what looks like a kanji charachter (Batallion Daitai?) on them as well. Thanks in advance. Best Regards, Corry

OK, I should have enough info to make an informed decision. Thanks for all your thoughts and links! Much appreciated! Best Regards, Corry

I do owe Chris Bowen an apology, even if It turns out to actually be a Gendaito. He spent the time to give me his thoughts and I was not a gentleman. I was a bit animated and over reacted on FB. I don't expect to be able to rejoin the page though. I wish him the best! Best Regards, Corry

Thanks Bruce, I have always known you to be knowledgeable and a straight shooter. I don't comment much, but stalk the page a bit.

All, Thanks for your input on this. Still looking for more info, so please chime in, if you have further to add. Best Regards, Corry

Stephen, honestly, thanks for your thoughts on this. I am not saying you or even Chris are wrong. There just seems to be a lot of controversy about this. I mostly specialize in 3rd reich..about 1/3rd of my collection and am a subject matter expert on a few items and I get fooled once in a great while until I look REALLY closely. I have also seen this happen to other highly experienced collectors that have authored books on the subject. Another 1/3 of my collection is Imperial Japanese. I know a lot about NCO's etc, (but those are easy,fakes are getting better all the time tho..on a scary level) but am not anywhere near an expert on Gendaito.(thats why I am here I just am trying to figure it out?. Seems to have the correct features of gendaito, maybe I am wrong. I don't want to get burned, because this was not cheap. I also, don't want to screw over the seller if he is correct. I have provided him with a link to this discussion, in case he wants to defend his point of view. He has been in business for 10-15 years. I don't think he would still be around if he was unethical, but as stated, even experts miss things and make mistakes. Best Regards, Corry

Doesn't mean he is right about everything!. There are plentry of 3rd reich "experts that are wrong the time. I see it LOTS.

Matt, just out of curiosity, what are your reasons?

The only person who was arguing with me was Chris Bowen. That is not an answer. Assuming You've seen the post???

According to the seller, "Ask if Ikkansai Kunimori (Yasuhiro) made showato/oil-tempered swords. You will get lots of laughs."

Does this maker make water quenched Gendaito 1945 ((IKKANSAI KUNIMORi) This has a wavy Hamon. Chris Bowen is NOT welcome to reply. Its 1945, no showa stamp: Rgds, Sterling

All, Thoughts on this type 98. The mei on the nakago looks too crude for an original, but I may be way off on this. Thanks in advance!!!

Thanks all for a very interesting discussion. When looking at it closely, the nakago looks to have kanji characters on it, but not ledgible due to corrosion, so no way to tel who the smith was. Either way thanks again!