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Kiipu

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Everything posted by Kiipu

  1. I own the first edition. It is 8.5x11 inch paper stapled together with a softcover. The bayonet on the cover was found on Okinawa and is in a museum over there. It consists of a pole with a bayonet attached to the end. The Japanese soldiers called them idiot sticks for obvious reasons.
  2. Luca, thanks for the tang picture. Below is a link to another sword like yours, except it is assembly #499. Note the unknown character that follows the number on the bottom of the hilt. You may want to take a look at yours and see if it has a character as well. Two KaiGunto for review
  3. Hi Luca and welcome to the "Military Swords" subforum. Your sword was made by Tenshōzan and inspected by the navy. Tenshōzan blades were signed & dated until late 1943 and then the practice was stopped. So your blade was made sometime after late 1943. I have a couple of questions for you about the tang. How long is the tang in millimeters? From the center of the tang hole (mekugi-ana) to the notches (machi), what is the length?
  4. A minor correction in that the third character down is ヅ. Note the two tick marks in the upper right corner. Dakuten and handakuten
  5. Hi Jared and welcome to the "Military Swords" subforum. These have been around for awhile and initially fooled me too. However, it is a reproduction as stated above. The giveaway for me is the inspection mark on the ferrule. Keep the faith and keep looking for the real McCoy.
  6. 濃州関住藤原孝雄 = Nōshū Seki jū Fujiwara Takao.
  7. I found a similar signature that was translated as Sakō Kaneshige 酒向兼茂 via the link below. Two Signed Japanese Blades, Post #3
  8. How about Sakō Kanesumi 酒向兼住 via Sesko's swordsmiths, page 273?
  9. Besides the above, there is one another character that I have seen used in dates. It can be used for the day, month, or year. 元 = 1st. For example, 元年 first year (of an imperial era).
  10. Yes, anything is possible when it comes to Japanese swords. English letters, Arabic numbers, geometric shapes, punches, file marks, you name it, it was used as a prefix or suffix.
  11. In a flash of diminishing cards, I thought I would add the following to the list. The first link is to a NMB post while the second is to a webpage. Grey Doffin has a set relating to sword signatures. NMB Kanji Flashcards or Kanji Flashcards Ray Singer has knowledge cards available covering names, provinces, & time periods. Kanji flashcards - mei (names), nengo (time periods) and kuni (provinces) or Nihonto Knowledge Cards
  12. Forgot the link that should follow. Iroha
  13. The iroha order is more akin to our ABCs. In the case of swords, this is how they should be interpreted. Mantetsu (SMR) used a serialization system similar to what the Japanese army used. Thus, collectors refer to them by series as a form of shorthand. This shorthand is widely known amongst Japanese mlitaria collectors and readily understood by them. Below is a brief explanation taken from an unpublished article I wrote twenty years ago. X
  14. 濃州関住人源天秀謹而鍛之 = Nōshū Seki jūnin Minamoto Amahide kinshite kitau kore. 而 is offset to the right. The characters at the bottom of the tang are 金丸 Kanamaru. See the link below. Arsenal Stamps. @mecox
  15. A late war Type 100 with a "岐 within a cherry blossom" inspection mark. 昭和二十年四月 1945 April. 勝正 = Katsumasa. Blue paint: 八二五〇チ = 8250 CHI. Note the チ katakana character that comes after the number. Introduction to the Type 94, Type 98, & Type 100 Gunto
  16. 北川勝則 Kitakawa Katsunori.
  17. The other John, you had it right the first time. Rotate the picture counterclockwise 90 degrees. Yours is written from top to bottom while Bruce's is written from left to right. フ三四 = FU 34. FYI, I had to edit my posts above as I was getting scabbard and wooden handle markings intermixed. All sorted out now.
  18. Hi John, I would say ヤ/YA for the top and 五/5 for the right. The left, as you already know, is 六六/66. FYI, the handwriting is reducing the strokes to a minimum. Another comment is that the subassembly numbers can be painted on either side of the tang. I wonder if this was deliberate to alternate the location of the subassembly numbers on the tangs. This would help reduce confusion when reaching 99. Switch to the other side of the tang and start at 1.
  19. Your brilliant Conway! The kana characters have an origin in kanji characters. For example, Japanese submarines used the iroha order for numbering. In formal documents, 伊 is used instead of イ. However, the conning tower would use an イ followed by a number. 伊 = い, イ = I. 呂 = ろ, ロ = RO. 波 = は, ハ = HA. 仁 = に, ニ = NI. For the rest, click on the characters at the link below. In the column to the right, find the characters 字源 [character source] and the source character will be shown. いろは順 Now, back to swords. You answered something that has been nagging me for awhile. I remember seeing a black painted 呂 prefix on a sword tang and was wondering why they would use that character. I thought maybe it was the first character in the name of the shop or the fitter. I now think one of the swordshops could have used the kanji source characters as a prefix. What do you think Conway? cc @SteveM
  20. In the picture above, it is 2 with the 55 stamped upside down. So maybe the 2 means something different compared to the 55?
  21. I have also noticed marking(s) inked inside the scabbard mouth. Below is a link to one of these scabbard markings. In this particular case, it looks like the katakana character ホ HO. Japanese sword signature!
  22. I think the single digit handle number on yours is an Arabic 3.
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