Kiipu

There have been several discussions about these but maybe this is the one. This one was started by Tom and is mentioned later in this thread. Type 95 with a hand forged blade

福 = fuku. It starts to show up in 1945 on sword blades made on Kyushu 九州. So far, it has only been found on the nakago mune in the same location as final inspection marks. Mune Stamp Name On Nakago Mune!

I am familiar with that sword via private messaging. It is known that Minamoto Yoshichika 源良近 was associated with Suya or at the least did contract work for them. This is based upon a discovery by PNSSHOGUN via the link below. I was of the opinion then and now that this sword was custom made by Suya. An interesting sword to say the least. Murata Swords 村田刀, Page 2

Are you referring to this sword or to some other? The blade was made by 紀政次 in April 1945. *MINTY AND RARE* WWII Japanese Samurai Sword SHIN GUNTO WW2 KATANA GENDAITO NCO

@drac2k Measurements please! Sword Blade Measurement

@drac2k Did the sword come with a scabbard?

These swords frequently had damage prior to acquisition and hence the various "repairs." Keep in mind a battle field is not an optimum environment for finding a mint condition example of anything. This is all part and parcel of the history of this sword. The obverse side is as Bruce mentioned Keichō 慶長 (1596 to 1615). Keichō The visible characters on the reverse side are for a location. 肥州菊池住 = Hishū Kikuchi-jū. Hizen Province Hopefully, the Nihontō collectors will be able to shed more light about the history of this sword and it's engravings.

Cross-Reference Very odd gunto tsuba Obverse: 昭和十七年 = 1942. Reverse: 秀俊 = Hidetoshi.

And a little over two weeks later and it is back in the news again. WW2 SHIN GUNTO : Japanese Sword : Late War : with Original Map : Katana WWII

Starting in 1945 due to bomb damage, civilian-style sword parts were used in production. Not sure if this is the case with this example though. Keep in mind, there was no hard and fast rule for officer swords. The variations that exist are mind boggling. Ditto what Colin asked. It the crossguard magnetic or nonmagnetic?

The 南 did not start making a nakago appearance until the following 32nd フ series. 「W」の刻印. Ignore the の when translating into English. It simply states "engraved W."

Yes, you have the complete set of 一 volume 1, 二 volume 2, and 三 volume 3. The National Diet Library gives the date as 19--. So it was probably published in the 明治 Meiji or 大正 Taishō eras. I do not mean to be a piss ant, but all of your pictures are upside down and I am getting dizzy!

Some additional pictures can be seen at the link below. Tanto scabbard marking translation…

As indicated by Jussi, it is the weapons & swords section of 集古十種. You have volume 1 of 3. Below is a link so that you can download the missing volumes for your reference library. 集古十種 : 兵器・刀劔

Can you provide the eBay link as I would like to see the auction pictures. FYI, the 名 inspection mark comes before the serial number and can be seen in the second to last picture posted above by John.

Chris, the sword is legitimate and as you & Bruce stated "overcleaned." Tom, the style of the 3 indicates this was a factory overstamp from 105187 to 105308 and not something done at a later date. For example, compare the style of the numbers between the sword above to the one at Type 95 NCO Shin Gunto. Not sure what is going on with the arsenal logo but it does not look like a doublestrike to me. Maybe @Stegel & @Shamsy will have a different "impression" of the logo.

And one more for the kettle. A late Second World War Imperial Japanese army officer's sword

Steve, it is a Chinese reproduction from about 20-25 years ago. When time permits, take a look at the link below. IJA Type 95 NCO Sword Info

X田正則. The first character is easily identified by radical but I do not see it listed in the modern dictionaries. @BANGBANGSAN & @SteveM

That sword actually dates from 1933 to 1945, more likely earlier rather than later. The logo is that of Kokura Arsenal along with a Kokura 小 final inspection mark. Below is a link to a drawing of a jig used in the manufacture of your sword blade. As of 1934, the location of blade manufacture was Kokura Kōshō Tōkyō Heiki Seizō-sho 小倉工廠東京兵器製造所 Tōkyō Ordnance Factory of Kokura Arsenal. This factory formally belonged to Tōkyō Arsenal but was transferred to Kokura Arsenal when it came into existence in 1933. System Kaizen behind the Type 32 Gunto production of the 1930s

Markus Sesko runs that site. I use it frequently to translate a swordsmith's mei if I can ID the first character visually. It saves me time; however, it is a good idea to then lookup the swordsmith in Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan. The two, the website & book, should be used hand in hand. Naturally, I am only speaking about gendaitō 現代刀 in this situation. As for our mutual friend Sadaharu 貞治, go to page 877 of Sesko's 2015 book mentioned above and you will find what you are looking for. Good luck with the search.

SADAHARU (貞治), Kawai SADA (貞)

Cross-Reference Officers with Katana in back position

All I can say is that I read it on the Internet! See my edited post above. Thanks Ray.

Ron, close, but no cigar. How about Daiō 大道 by Higashidani. See link below. DAI (大) Edit: Markus Sesko has it as Daidō 大道 in Swordsmiths of Japan, published in 2015. @Markus