Kiipu

David S., after March 1945, anything is possible in regards to Japanese swords. Starting in the last year of the war, all kinds of patriotic sword production took place. Type 98 sword with unusual mark on tang Wartime Japanese Radio Broadcasts Related To Swords

The wrong order of characters my friend. In this case, 觀耕台 means "viewing platform" while I think the characters would more likely be in the order of 耕觀? Me thinks Trystan has been imbibing on 烧酒 shāojiǔ!

The top row is PHOTO and the second row appears to be a sequence of numbers. I think the photograph is probably coming from an archive, news agency, or collection. Scrap the studio and date comment above. This just goes to show you what happens when I think drink too much!

Yes, C96 to be exact and commonly called the "broomhandle" by collectors. The Japanese acquired so many from the Chinese that they adopted it as the ｢モ｣式大型拳銃 in 1939! Good to see Mal branching out into the heavy artillery! Mauser C96

Ditto what Shamsy said. Note the name of the photographic studio and date in the lower left corner?

Here are the characters for Nagayama Kōkan 永山･光幹 courtesy of the NDL. Unlikely this inscription is referring to him.

Chris, wrong Shigemitsu 重光. We pay you waaaay to much money for these kind of mistakes! I would suggest doing a search on NMB for Shigemitsu, paying close attention for the mei 繁光. There are two spellings that you will run into as indicated below. Shigemitsu -- 繁光 Shigemitsu -- 重光

Several Sukehisa 祐久 are archived on NMB and some are in naval mounts. Two of them have a unique white painted subassembly number. Me thinks Mal will need to revise Japanese Naval Swords, Part 2! Translation of Katana Mei Need help identifying mei of 2 Shin Gunto please! Kai-Gunto Translation Help Katsuhisa?

The sword is depicted in F&G and in Dawson's books. Both state it is for the Imperial Household. Ministry of the Imperial Household

Yes, 1943 is the date. The first character is alluding me at the moment so I will have Mal take a look at it. Can you post an overall picture of the fittings? @mecox

At long last, I tracked this down to an actual source via a Russian webpage. It is not coming from a book but rather a series of articles. I have been able to reconstruct the citation for part 2 of the article or series? Okōchi Tsunehira 大河内･常平. Teikoku Rikukaigun guntō monotagatari 帝国陸海軍軍刀物語 [The Story of Imperial Army and Navy Military Swords]. Part 2. Rei 麗 No. 192 (1981). Tōkyō 東京: Tōken Shibata 刀剣柴田. 6 Оокоти Цунэхира. Тэйкоку рикукайгун гунто моногатари 『帝国陸海軍軍刀物語』. Повествование об императорских армейских и морских военных мечах (Часть вторая). Ежемесячное издание "Восхищение". Токио: Токэн Сибата. 1981. № 192. С. 10 (на японском языке). Below is the link to the Russian webpage. The Russian article talks about the Iida scabbard lock and includes a picture of Iida Kunitaro. Японский армейский меч и затворное устройство Иида

Pennington, Bruce. Stamps of the Japanese Sword. Version 8.6. 2022-03-13. 54 page monograph in PDF format. Can be downloaded via NMB. Stamps of the Japanese Sword

Chris, only two Shigemitsu 繁光 are mentioned in Swordsmiths of Japan by Markus Sesko. One active in Genji 1864-1865 and the other in Shōwa 1926-1989. Hope this helps in narrowing it down.

Josh, do an Internet search using "濃州住中島国重作" and a couple will show up on Japanese websites. So far, all are in civilian fittings so this could apply to yours as well. There was a surge of interest in the traditional mounts in the 1930s and 1940s in Japan and they are illustrated in period books, periodicals, and catalogs. As Bruce Pennington indicated above, many of these civilian swords were later adapted for military use such as yours.

警視廳 = Keishichō = Metropolitan Police Department. The old characters are 警視廳 while the new characters are 警視庁. 視 = 視. 廳 = 庁. Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

For the record, this is the oldest known Tenshōzan blade marked with the 天照山鍛錬場作 signature. Prior to that time, they were made by either Fujiwara Kanenaga 藤原兼永 or Fujiwara Akimitsu 藤原昭光. Only about half of them have the Tenshōzan anchor stamp. The earliest being August 1939 and the last being June 1943.

佐藤兼住 = Satō Kanesumi plus a large Seki 関 stamp above. So as to save @Bruce Pennington some time, is there a date on the other side of the nakago? @mecox For a signature comparison, below is a link to another one. This one is courtesy of Kammell with a translation by Ray Singer. Any help would be greatly appreciated Addendum: Kanesumi 兼住 seems to have used a variety of signatures styles. There are several examples on NMB and they can be found by searching under Sato Kanesumi.

濃州住中島国重作 = Nōshū jū Nakajima Kunishige saku. In Swordsmiths of Japan by Markus Sesko he is mentioned as having passed away on 1944-10-27. His name is given as Nakajima Hiroshi 中島･寛. @mecox

@micah has a police sword with the same blade marking. early meji? police sword marking

I have one other on file and it only has a single stamp. It could be the characters 内山 one over the other?

Another one for your records @BANGBANGSAN. 義治 =Yoshiharu. 昭和甲申春 = 1944 Spring.

@lambo35 Hōten “Mukden” Zōhei-sho KK 奉天造兵所株式會社 did use an encircled katakana HE character that looked like this ㋬. This marking does not show up in the army regulations so it could have been a marking that was used internally for inspections. Hōten never manufactured swords; however, they did make a large quantity of 30th Year Type Bayonets 三十年式銃剣. As already indicated by @Bruce Pennington, the Heijō Factory of Jinsen Army Arsenal 仁川陸軍造兵廠平城製造所 did manufacture [officer and enlisted] swords starting in fiscal year 1945. The factory inspection mark used is a standalone ヘ.

Found this one at Grey's website. B886. Nippon Toh

I think Yoshichika worked for Suya or did contract work for them? Last year @mdiddy sold a hybrid sword using a Yoshichika blade, Type 98 fittings, with a Type 95 hilt. The Type 95 fittings were parts only made by Suya. Matt has posted several pictures of this hybrid sword in the thread below. Hand forged blade in 95 mounts on eBay Of special note. 皇紀二千六百年 = Kōki 2600 = 1940. 源良近作之 = Minamoto Yoshichika saku kore. The tang only has the one hole suggesting the blade was specially made for these Type 95 parts. The two-piece hilt construction. This would possibly require the use of 2 hilts so as to make the one? Hilt has no cutout for the top mounted release latch. Hilt not drilled for a mekugi. Possibly a custom made wood liner for the hilt. Crossguard made from aluminium? And there is probably more details that I am missing! @Stegel & @Shamsy

@Endrass was that Suya logo on page 73 by chance on a Yoshichika 良近 blade? Back in March 2021, @PNSSHOGUN found one with a similar style marking. Murata Swords 村田刀