tbonesullivan

Thanks!!! Also just found these pages: http://meiboku.info/guide/form/hamon/index.htm https://www.yaegaki-kai.be/iaido/katana-parts/hamon/ Gyaku (Oblique) Choji maybe? Seems to be the same as Saka (slanted) Choji. Nokogiri-ba (Sawtooth)? So many different types.

So, this is from a tanto that has a VERY faint hamon. Definitely in need of a finish polish, and it's only really visible on one side. it's almost like an angled sawtooth. I thought maybe some variant of GUNOME? YAHAZU? Getting pictures of this was not easy, but my iPhone was up to the task. Using a scanner showed zip, and originally I thought it didn't have one.

DING DING DING! Found it!

Here's a photo with the habaki off. I tried to get more detail but failed unfortunately. I did notice that the middle number was kinda 'overstamped'. I had a bit of trouble at first. I have included a picture of the handle as well, which definitely has got to be real, so I'm fairly certain this blade is not a fake. Looking at it now, I think it may in fact bee a ク KU or a ワ WA instead.

Well, that's a bit disconcerting. Just got my first chance to look at a Mantetsu. I'll have to take some more pictures. This one is numbered on the spine with ウ 四 六 六 - U 4 6 6 . Dated: 昭 和 壬 午 秋 - Showa Mizunoe-Uma Aki - Fall of 1942

This is, thankfully not one I need help translating. It's more of a question regarding how the blade has been signed. Is it normal for some smiths to put their FULL real name before their name as a smith? Most of the MEI I can find are just 高崎金繁 TAKASAKI KANESHIGE or the full 関住高崎金繁作 SEKI JU TAKASAKI KANESHIGE SAKU.

Well, I managed to find this via google:

That could make sense. I did see that listed in the oshigata, but it was a bit different. Maybe they were in a rush?

Yeah, I would NOT want to live with something like that, or anything of exceeding value, uniqueness etc. As Indiana Jones would say "That belongs in a museum!". The proper care, treatment, respect, etc would drive me insane. This also reminds me of a company that bought what was, at the time, the most expensive bottle of wine EVER sold at auction. They displayed it. Under hot lights. It became then the most expensive bottle of vinegar in the world.

Yep, another Type 98 Shin-gunto I spent way too much time staring at. The first character looks familiar to me, but the closest I could find was 奥 , which is OKU or would usually be part of 奥州 OSHU The second character however is definitely not 州, but looks to be either 心 (SHIN) or possibly 必 , but the second doesn't seem to be used in MEI The only character I'm (relatively) sure on is that the fourth one is 金 (KANE or KIN) From what I can find regarding showa smiths, I found references to 金丸 Kanemaru and 金 近 Kanechika, but that second character doesn't look like either.

Do Wakizashi use different shaped Nakago than Katanas? Or is it just because of the two mekugi ana? I dealt with an O-wakizashi with a nagasa of 22 1/4" or 56.5cm, and the sugata was pretty much identical to a katana.

Yeah, that is a bit rough. I've seen a lot of Shin Gunto, but usually not with the type of deep rust I see on the tang of this sword and the one you have. Worst one I had seen up until now was an example that used Cellulose Nitrate faux Ray skin. It outgassed and degraded, and turned the wrapping RED and it would disintegrate as it was touched. It also caused the entire tang to become rusted solid to the tsuka.

Well I feel dumb now. I assumed "no there's no way that's a ROKU character". Had I checked, the only one listed in the Gendaito page is Imai Sadaroku. Thanks again! I should have looked at the province Kanji for longer than i did.

These are the best pictures I could get. The Hamon is a very slow NOTARE shape. I was not able to get it at all, as the lighting I have is totally sub optimal.

So, this sword has a few rust issues on the tang, though I can still mostly make out the characters, though I'm having trouble with the second one especially. From what I can see, the first character should be 城 for part of YOSHU, or YOSHU NO KUNI, but I can't tell if the 州 character is under that rust. Searching through Mei hasn't really gotten me anywhere. I've had this second issue before, trying to decide if the character is a 國 or a 国 . From what I see, it's almost always 國, but some list the other form. After that, as best I can tell, it reads 有? 大 作 The NENGO is also a bit strange, as instead of the character for year, it just has a big circle.: 昭 和 十 八 〇 二 月 - Showa 18 (1943) 2nd Month (February)

Thanks! I really need to pick up some of the reference books once things calm down.

This is the tang of a Kai-Gunto with a blade that was refitted, and also had the tang "cleaned" apparently. There isn't much left of the yasurime. So, after staring at this for a while, I can tell that it's signed佐 光 信 光. Should there be more to the mei? From searching I can see it should be read SA KO NOBU MITSU, but usually there would be a province or Seki mark in front of it. I also don't really think it's that much older than the fittings, but it does look to have been remounted.

The blade on this example is MUMEI, and doesn't look to Showato due to the condition of the tang. However i can see a clear HAMON and HADA in the JI. There also looks to be crystallization along the hamon. I've attached pictures that show this, so would this be a higher end special order Type 98 Shin Gunto?

So, I've seen a lot of Shin-Gunto during my time writing up stuff for work, but I've never seen one with a SAYA like this. It has all the usual fittings on a Type 94/98 scabbard. However isn't metal over wood construction. Instead, it's wood with some type of textured fabric over it. Is this some type of synthetic shagreen? I looked for what the technical term is, or for other examples, and I wasn't able to find any. I've attached pictures showing the texture and also where it has worn through to the underlying fabric. There doesn't seem to be any seam though, so it looks like it was applied directly to the fabric wrapped over the wood?

With the condition the blade is in, you wouldn't really be able to tell. Oof.

I was just going to add that I thought the first might be 兼 KANE, compared to other tangs I have looked at in the past. I'll have to look out for that Mune looking like Kyo. Now I just need to figure out why someone cut it.

This looks to be a somewhat interesting regular grade Shin-gunto, however it's a bit odd, and I can't make out the first character of the Mei, or if it even is a signature, or something else. As far as I can see, the second Kanji is definitely 京 KYO, but I can't find any listing of a Showa era smith signing blades using that character. The other side of the tang is 昭 和 十 六 年 九 月 - Showa 16 (1941) 9th Month, though the Roku is missing the right leg. The tang itself also definitely is quite short and looks like it got cut or broken off at some point. Haven't seen that before. Any ideas on whether that is the name of the smith? I checked under the alternate readings of 京 as well.

Is there any good quick reference for Zodiac dates by year, or is it easier to just figure it out? It's a 60 year cycle involving the 12 animals and 5 elements, right?

Thanks! After looking at it for a while, I was feeling more and more like it was masanori.

I thought I had gotten pretty good at reading mei, but this one is giving me trouble. It's from a 1944 dated blade, so it's late war, and the mei looks somewhat rushed. I am reading it as 包 則 - KANE NORI It doesn't match any of the Oshigata I have found, as they usually use the 兼 character for KANE. I could also be mis reading the first kanji entirely. My second choice would be 正 則 - MASANORI Thoughts? Thanks in advance!