Kiipu

@Lareon What is the date of this Yoshiharu with the number 250? Edit: Change of direction on this as I located your other post which shows the other side of the tang. Instead, my question is are there any M inspection marks on either side of the tang? WW2 Era Tang translation help

@Bruce Pennington Yoshiharu tang numbers but difficult to make out.

@Bruce Pennington And another Yoshiharu with a tang number.

@Bruce Pennington Serial number or subassembly number on lower tang.

In summary, the timeline of the M partial inspection mark is as follows. So far, the M inspection mark has only shown up on factory made blades fitted out as Type 98s. 満鉄刀 Mantetsu Sword 興亜一心　満鐵謹作　昭和壬午春　1942 Spring 興亜一心　満鐵作　昭和壬午秋　1942 Autumn 満鐵鍛造之　昭和癸未春　1943 Spring 満鐵鍛造之　昭和甲申春　1944 Spring 義治 Yoshiharu 1943 Spring 1943 Autumn 1944 Spring 武久 Takehisa 1943 Spring 1943 Autumn 1944 Spring 村上治久 Murakami Haruhisa 1944 Spring 天心 Tenshin 1945 January

@Denis V What is the date of manufacture of this Takehisa 武久?

@Rod Mountford What is the year of manufacture? Is there any M inspection marks on either side of the tang?

Sword No. 1 The crossguard is stamped in kanji with 神戸 [Kōbe]. The full name of the company is Kōbe (or Kanbe) Shop Unlimited Partnership 合名会社･神戸商店. I think the sword is prewar, as in it started life as a Type 94, and it is possible the entire sword could have been made by Kōbe including the blade. Later on, Kōbe was one of the manufacturers of the Type 95 Military Sword.

PAN-CHIAO (31° 55′ N 118° 40′ E) The Hwa-Chuhg (or Hwa-Chung?) Mining Company plant at Pan-chiao, near Nanking [南京], produced 100,000 rounds of small arms ammunition using used cartridge cases for reloading. Swords and mortar shell were also produced and had a still unreached goal of 300 swords and 3,000 mortar shells per month. Ammunition and shell production started early in 1945. The plant employed 300 workers and had about 90 machine tools installed.

Here in the United States, the expression "island swords" was never used so I will leave it to others to comment upon its meaning. However, Japanese weapons made overseas are called "field (made)" or "improvised" weapons in the States.

@BANGBANGSAN Is the proper conversion from Japanese to traditional Chinese and finally simplified Chinese? 華北機械工業株式會社 = 華北機械工業有限公司 = 华北机械工业有限公司.

(5) Kahoku Kikai [華北機械], 7 Hsiao Wang Chuang, Tientsin [天津]. Source: Japanese in Tokyo; Japanese Headquarters, C.E.F. This plant was a private enterprise, new buildings and equipment. Construction and installation of machinery was not complete by the end of the war. The plant has about 100,000 square feet of floor space in machine shops, forge shops, foundry and warehouses. About 200 machine tools are installed. Production at the end of the war was rifles, mortar shell, and swords. (Fig. No 9 an 10 to Annex No. 8.)

At the end of the war, the 1st Marine Division, the same division mentioned in the OP, was sent to North China. As a result, here in the United States, we have a good sampling of Chinese weapons courtesy of these marines. These weapons range from old Imperial Chinese to recent Japanese and Collaboration Government production. Sadly, the "forum" experts cry fake every opportunity they have when they see them!

A dollar says it is a zōheitō 造兵刀 [arsenal sword]. @BANGBANGSAN, are you a gambling man!

Dave, found a somewhat similar looking sword with a surrender tag. Theses swords always seem just a little different than the next one. Hope this helps. Leather covered sword

Hi Dale, I think these fitting were intended for use on swords used by the Chines puppet government(s). Some fittings appear to have been made in Japan while others were made in China. A rather obscure subject but worthy of scholarly research. Here are some more examples for your edification. Please help with translating the writing on sword Attention: @LISAMORRILL

@BANGBANGSAN Below is another 兼音 to compare to the one you posted above. ☆　関住藤井兼音作　☆ Seki jū Fujii Kaneoto saku. 　　昭和十九年五月　May 1944. Note how both swords have red and green/blue painted numbers. Pictures courtesy of @AirDog01. Another signature request

Cross-Reference Similar fittings, but a little different. IJA officers factory made sword?

I found this statement via an Internet search 恒茂鋼鉄版(旧昇恒機器工廠). It is coming from page 64 of the 1962 Japanese book entitled 中国の鉄鋼業と機械工業の技術水準 by 岡崎文勲. Japanese wartime documents always referred to the company as 昇恒機器工廠. I think the company also had more than one factory as well. After the war in 1945, the Chinese Nationalists 中國國民黨 took over and I am sure the company would have been renamed either by them or the Chinese Communists in 1949.

Trystan, what exactly does Chang Heng 昇恒 mean? Is it a person's name, a place, or some other meaning in Chinese? If it is a person's name, is it the first or last name?

The location of all of the above swordsmiths is unknown with the possible exception of Yoshiharu 義治. @cabowen states that he was located in Tōkyō. Translation assistance with WW2 Oficers Katana, Post #14 I think Chris Bowen is correct because in 1937 there was a shop in Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō, that was run by Yoneda Yosaburō 米田･與三郎. What is interesting about Yoneda-san is that he used the mei of Minamoto Yoshiharu 源義治. He had 8 workers, was capitalized at ¥5,000, and could manufacture 240 swords per month. He started production at the Shibuya location in 1927. Based upon the quantity of swords being made monthly, it is doubtful that these are traditional blades. I think that at some point in the war, Yoneda san got a contract from the army to manufacture some economy swords for officers. As such, army marking regulations came into effect that required the smith's name and date be inscribed on the tang. Furthermore, the blades would have been inspected at the time of delivery or completion. My statement above about "economy swords" is based upon posts by @PNSSHOGUN in which he pointed out the similarities in construction. Beside his comments in this thread, there is another one at the link below. Request for kanji assistance please, Post #3

(4) Chang Heng Machinery and Tool Company (Shoko Kiki) [昇恒機器工廠], 197 Route Road, 3rd District, Tientsin [天津]. Source: Japanese in Tokyo; Japanese Headquarters, C.E.F.; Japanese Liaison Office, Peiping. This plant containing about 600 machine tools, a foundry for iron and steel and a forge shop manufactured Model 38 rifles, mortar shell, swords and gages. Steel was made in a one-half ton electric arc furnace. A small arc furnace was used for making Silicon Carbide. Production of rifles was reported at 50 rifles per day. The quality was very poor. The rifles were issued to puppet troops. (Figs. No. 7 & 8 to Annex 8).

A thread started by @Pete Klein that discusses the purpose of the shinobi ana 忍び孔. Shinobi Ana

Maybe the Kaneoto 兼音 that is pictured alongside the Tenshin 天心 was the source of the confusion? A close examination of the pictures reveals no M stamp on the Kaneoto. However, it would be easy to get the two swords mixed up though and the Tenshin does have an M stamp. Need Help With Two Blades

Trystan, I think there is a yamagata M at the bottom of the tang on this Murakami Haruhisa 村上治久. Black paint: 七五二 = 752. White paint: 六二 = 62. Type 94 Shin-Gunto Tang Translation: Assistance Appreciated!