Kiipu

Wow 2.0! He is listed as a sword appraiser in the document below. Hope this helps down the road. Collection, classification and disposition - WW2 1.0.0

To clarify your statement, the one via @Stegel came from Japan at the end of the war. I agree more or less with Bruce in that these could have been manufactured in China during the war of 1937-1945. X

Gunma Prefecture ☆　上州住今井兼継作　ク２０１ = ☆ Jōshū jū Imai Kanetsugu saku. 昭和十八年十二月吉日 = A lucky day in December 1943. https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v804102193 Ibaraki Prefecture 昭和十九年五月日 = A day in May 1944. ☆　勝村正勝作　イ２１９ = ☆ Katsumura Masakatsu saku. https://aucview.com/yahoo/g385679242/ Yamagata Prefecture 羽州天童住兵良直次作　６１ = Ushū Tendō jū Heiryō Naotsugu saku. 昭和十七年七月日 = A day in July 1942. https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/13106.html 羽州山形住宗秀作　マ８７０ = Ushū Yamagata jū Munehide saku. 昭和十九年七月日 = A day in July 1944. Has a star stamp. https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/m475201878/

I think there are some flaws in that F&G list as SteveM has pointed out and it would be nice to have that list updated via current Japanese language sources. Back at the issue at hand though, Seki established a Gifu-ken ritsu kinzoku shikenjō 岐阜県立金属試験場 in April 1937 so it would not surprise me if they had perfected the use of old steels in sword making as Dave indicated. I believe this entity is still in existence. 関・軍用日本刀 As an aside, the Seki swords marked with the 昭 stamp are well made and of good quality. The establishment of the above facility could be the reason for this.

And since I am here, how about one more Masakatsu. 昭和十九年五月日 = A day in May 1944. ☆　勝村正勝作　イ２１９ = ☆ Katsumura Masakatsu saku I-219. 勝村正勝作　昭和十九年五月日 And sometimes the star stamp and serial number are deliberately removed. Compare the pictures at the link below to the one above. https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/16101.html

Well, since you asked, I agree with your opinion. I base this on the low resolution pictures at the link below. As for what the text says, you will need to ask the NMB Chief Chinese Translator @BANGBANGSAN to look at the text. 昭和二十年四月日 = A day in April 1945. ☆　水戸勝村正勝作　イ５１２ = ☆ Mito Katsumura Masakatsu saku I-512. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/403440961

Trystan, on the sword with the 松97 marking, do you any additional information about the date and swordsmith's name? The 松 stamp was used as a prefix by both Nagano 長野縣 and Niigata 新潟県 prefectures before the switch to タ and ナ in late 1943.

Greg, if the sword is still at hand, can I get a better picture of the serial number at the bottom of the tang? In the meantime, below is a transcription of the kanji characters. ☆　親房 = ☆　Chikafusa. 皇紀二千六百三年十月日 = A day in October 1943. Attention: @george trotter & @Bruce Pennington

It looks like a handwritten 満鉄刀 to me. Maybe @SteveM can figure out the last two characters after 23. 三五二号 = Number 352. 満鉄刀23 = Mantetsu-tō 23.

ブラフウィツチ元帥閣下 = His excellency Field Marshal Brauchitsch. ヴァルター・フォン・ブラウヒッチュ

Hopefully, @Stegel will take a look as I think it is a Type 95 with a steel crossguard. Edit: False alarm. It is an officers sword with a fullered blade, iron crossguard, and leather scabbard cover with restraining strap.

Yes, several other swords exist with that stamp. To date, the identification of the character used is unknown. Below is a link to one of the swords mentioned by Bruce above. Help Requested Identifying Sword Stamp Another one with a more complete character can be seen below. Help with translation Attention: @BANGBANGSAN

@PNSSHOGUN In reply to your post of 2019-11-05, it just dawned on me that the removable haikan 佩環 is lined with leather. Is that how you think they all originally came? I have often wondered why former Type 94 scabbards did not have traces of the second hanger, and the leather lining could possibly explain why?

Middle Tag 受付番號 uketsuke bangō [receipt number]: 刀第２９１２號 [receipt number 2912]. 受付年月 uketsuke nengetsu [receipt date]: １１年３月１６日 [1936-03-16 or 16 March 1936]. 社名 shamei [company name]: 歩兵第三九旅団中将 [39th Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant General]. 御芳名 gohōmei [name]: 高木義人 Takagi Yoshito. 品名 hinmei [item name]: [blank] Bottom row unreadable ？？. Nick Komiya: 御芳名 is read Gohoumei, and is an extremely polite way of referring to a guest's name, like at restaurants and hotels. Simply translating it as "Name" is fine. お名前 Onamae is the more common way to politely ask for the name of a person these days.

Martin, Paul. The Yoshihara Tradition. 2005. 31 pages. It was written in 2005 as the main part of an unpublished catalogue to accompany the exhibition of the same theme that Paul Martin curated in the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California. Background information: New Article - the Yoshihara Tradition Download link: The Yoshihara Tradition of Japanese Sword Making

高木義人 Takagi Yoshito (1886-1956) It looks like he bought his sword fittings from the officers club. 高木義人 Right Tag 財團法人 = Zaidanhōjin = Foundation. 偕行社 = Kaikōsha (Army officers club). 酒保部 = Shuho-Bu = PX Store. The term 酒保 is a Japanese translation of the French cantine and German Feldschenke & Soldatenschenke. The literal translation in English is "liquor." Special thanks to Nick for the extra help in translating the term. 酒保

Ditto the above. 加藤則貞 = Katō Norisada Kato Norisada

I think these are the stylized characters 内山. This logo only appears on cavalry swords so far.

The characters are Thai script and the last four are numbers. FYI, the picture is upside down. XXX/๖๒๔๓ = XXX/6243.

It looks like an out of focus 一文字天秀鍛之 Ichimonji Amahide kitau kore. However, I will need "The A-Team" of @SteveM & @BANGBANGSAN to take a look at it and make sure I am not seeing things again. @mecox

Glenn, on the large wooden scabbard, are those metal bands or is it just tape? What is inside the small wooden scabbard? The one with the label marked as below. 準備 = Junbi = Preparation. 刀第一六一號 = Sword Number 161. For your edification, below is a link to a brief article about handling Japanese swords. Manual Of How To Handle And Take Care Of Swords

This Type 95 sword is the lowest known to have a 東 inspection mark on the blade. Prior to this, only the serial number appeared on the blade. For example, see serial number 71 for a comparison. Type 95 Nco Copper Hilt

As I linked to above, the wartime zōhei-tō 造兵刀 came about via the Type 95. Mass production began in earnest in 1943 and more zōhei-tō were made late in the war than Type 95s. The Japanese army needed officer's swords and they needed lots of them. Hence the development of the zōhei-tō. It took the best features of the Type 95 and ported it over to the requirements of an officer's sword.

Thanks George. So this is what we have then. Iwashiro 岩代 is located in Fukushima Prefecture so it would have fallen under the RJT jurisdiction of Tōkyō 1st Arsenal. Production was small as they would have started with no prefix to the serial number and then added the katakana character FU フ later on. Yet this sword is only numbered at 37 and already has the prefix. Kinda like Hokkaidō 北海道 then, in that limited production took place in the prefecture. ☆　岩代住正和　フ３７ = ☆　Iwashiro jū Masakazu　FU37 Iwashiro, Fukushima

It is an officer variant of the Type 95. The Type 95 was highly thought of by the army for its cutting ability. So a prototype was developed and tested that could be used by officers. I think @Shamsy could own one of the test pieces used in the sword's development. Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto, Post #212 造兵刀　Army Arsenal Blade @BANGBANGSAN