Kiipu

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@Bruce Pennington Looks like 二二二二 = 2222. Not sure if the numbers are stamped or painted. I can see no star stamp or inspection marks.

I think this is the company website. https://www.eagleone.com/ Search terms so that others may find the thread in the future. Eagle one, original nevr-dull wadding polish

I was referring to post #4 above. I asked as the earliest star material stamp date in the Fuller data is August 1942. Yet Ganko gives dates that are earlier. Informations About The Rjt, Post #17

@Ganko So far, this is the earliest Type 100 I have seen and it is dated July 1941. Judging by the serial number, production may have only recently begun. Arsenal Mark on RJT sword Fittings, Post #97 Bruce has recorded three Type 100s that are dated December 1941 with serial numbers ranging from 535 to 621. Arsenal Mark on RJT sword Fittings, Post #136 Do you by chance remember who the swordsmiths were that made the star-stamped blades made in February and March 1942 that you mentioned above?

1. The katakana character ミ is the 41st character in the iroha poem. 2. The most recent Mantetsu write up can be found via the following link. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey, Post #428

A commercial Mantetsu from the 41st (ミ) series, serial number ミ 二八八. Yours is the third one reported from this series. ミ = katakana character mi or in uppercase MI. Nakago mune:ミ 二八八 = MI 288 Obverse: 昭和癸未春 = Spring 1943. Reverse: 興亜一心　満鐵作 = Kōa Isshin　Mantetsu saku.

More likely an example of an early Type 100 serial number. Note that the serial number is stamped upside down compared to the early serial numbers that appear on star stamped blades. For an example of another one, see @Windy illustrations. Timeline Type 3 Gunto, Post #9

Although faded toward the top, it looks like 887. 八八七 = 887

I found that other "Horikawa Ji’emon Kunitake saku" that you replied to back in 2019. Interesting that yours is 490 and the other is 487, albeit 487 not pictured though. mei translation help please. Attention @Bruce Pennington

Thank you! This is what I have recorded. Reverse: ☆　堀川治右衛門國威作　490 Obverse: 昭和十八年一月吉日 = A lucky day in January 1943. Nakago mune: No markings.

Thank you @shibeni. When time permits, I would like to see a picture of the date side of the tang if possible. I am interested in what month it was made in. They changed the serialization method sometime in early 1943 and every little bit of information helps in narrowing the change down.

Thanks Big Feet! I was missing some of the kanji characters for that side and the photograph above filled in the blanks. The only followup is to ask if there are any inspection marks on the nakago or nakago mune. So far, the answer seems to be no on the early star-stamped blades?

Bojan, are there any inspection marks on the nakago or nakago mune?

That katakana character before the serial number is オ O. This is the alphabet letter O and not the number 0. This is thought to be a prefix for Aomori Prefecture 秋田縣. Edit: This seems to be the same sword that @george trotter depicts in the post below. It is also mentioned in several posts by him. Shinshinto Okachiyama Nagasada Tanto, Maybe?, Post #2

@mecox I found another pronunciation for 大澤. It is coming from a website that I have only recently started using. For this reason, I can not vouch for the accuracy of this site yet. It gives two pronunciations for 大澤, Ōsawa or Ōzawa. Japanese Kanji Name Dictionary (How to read Japanese name)

Below is another post that you made about the same sword. The post is edited for brevity.

Do you a have a picture showing the entire reverse side of the nakago? Also, are there any markings on the nakago mune? And finally, I will need your shoe size and blood type!

@Daniel If this 越後住清勝 [Kiyokatsu] sword, serial number 86, is still at hand, can you check the nakago and nakago mune for any army inspection marks. Also, do you have a picture of the date side?

Do you have a picture of the obverse side of the tang and a picture of the nakago mune?

@Foo Dog Is this a star stamped blade by chance? If so, does it have a katakana character followed by Arabic numbers like the one linked to below? star stamped show blade

Mal, this is the only pronunciation that I am aware of. 大澤 = 大沢 = Ōsawa. I mainly use O'Neill's book for translating names. Details below. O’Neill, P. G. Japanese Names: A Comprehensive Index by Characters and Readings. New York: Weatherhill, 1972.

Thank you for the prompt replies Paul and Marco.

Could this be タ1369 instead of タ1361?

I would like to know the date of this sword. If dated, can a picture of the other side of the tang be posted?