Kiipu

trans. = translator.

Another one of the better known sword shops. During the war years, the shop went by the name of 若瀬軍刀製作所 [Wakase Guntō Seisaku-jo]. For your information, the picture is upside down. 若瀬 = Wakase. 東京 = Tōkyō. See this post by "k morita" for another example. Gunto -Tsuba, Post #5

Kokura Arsenal had oversight of "NCO" sword production up until September 1942. Could this Kokura Arsenal oversight have applied to officer's swords as well during this same time period? It is known that with the advent of the Type 100, that arsenal inspections were carried out by the army. I am thinking that maybe prior to the RJT program and the September 1942 relinquishing of control that the officer's swords were sent to the 1st Factory and from there forwarded as necessary. One last final comment is that the 1st Factory of Kokura Arsenal also made a small batch of Type 95 sword blades during the copper, technically bronze, tsuka time period and were marked accordingly.

While not directly related to swords, the Premier is probably referring to some variation of tamahagane (玉鋼). Rikugun Jumei Tosho (RJT) Star Stamped Blades - Documentation?, Post #31

During the war, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) monitored Radio Tokyo and affiliated stations. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) would then assemble these intercepts into various topics, such as industry or agriculture. I have transcribed the text as it appears in the documents. The exception is the date which I have changed to the international standard. For example, 2/4/45 is changed to 1945-02-04 per ISO 8601. From studying the documents, I believe the abbreviations at the end of the intercepts are as such. Tok. = Radio Tokyo. See the Wikipedia article NHK. Jap. = Japanese language broadcast.

Make that three. A "star" stamped 源盛延 [Minamoto Morinobu] dated September 1942 with number 94. This sword also uses this number as a subassembly number. Note that the nakago mune is marked twice with ホホ. Star stamped blade I also found another Morinobu with a double marked ホホ nakago mune which is dated August 1942. This one does not seem to have a number stamped on the tang. Minamoto Morinobu Gendaito In Gunto Koshirae Maybe vajo could check his Morinobu to see what markings it has. (Minamoto) Morinobu

Another one for the record books. SJ-191. WW2 Japanese Navy Katana late war.

The logo is unidentified so far.

The "rocking star" is a logo that shows up on Japanese bayonets and I think that is what BangBangSan is referring to. A long Syracuse, NY Gun Show report & Rocking Star bayonet find WTS Rocking Star Bayonet Nice Condition

Is this one of the postwar made souvenir swords?

Looks like these nakago mune inspection marks are older than I thought. This one is dated October 1941 and the nakago mune is marked as 名ホ. Kanenobu Help

Dated 1942 only and no "star" stamp. Nakago mune markings are 名 & ホ. Muto Hidehiro

It is a Nagoya 名 inspection mark.

This statement now appears incorrect. Some of the blades that I linked to in post #43 are "star" stamped (and some are not?). The document 昭和１９年度鍜錬刀軍刀生産計画表 that I linked to above indicates that Kokura Arsenal did not supply finished military swords [完成軍刀]. They did transfer sword blades [刀身] though to the Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal. Presumably, Tōkyō would then farm out the blades to the sword shops to be fitted out.

Hoanh, are these "star" stamped blades by chance? Also, are either of these two dated?

If you are referring to page 13 of Stamps (v.5.5), I did the translation and created the table which you are talking about. It is based upon the 1943 inspection mark regulations. The citation can be found in post #6 in this thread. I forwarded the table to Bruce so that he could include it in the stamps document. Are you aware of the fiscal year 1944 planning document entitled 昭和１９年度鍜錬刀軍刀生産計画表? If not, see frames 2 and 3 of the document for 鍜錬刀 [tanren-tō]. １５．昭和１９年度鍜錬刀軍刀生産計画表　昭和１９年４月１５日 For those that prefer English, Nick has already translated the document and it can been seen at the link below. Why did the army revive the Samurai sword design in 1934 for officers?, Post #16

Here you go Bruce. 重房作 皇紀二千六百二年

You can read more about it at the link below. Update On The Gendaito Project

I tracked down the sword in question and it is a strange one for sure. It is an early "star" stamped blade coming via the RJT program. Unfortunately, little is known about the early days of the RJT program. It has only one marking on the nakago mune, a katakana ホ. I think it is safe to say that the blade was not made by the 1st Factory. It could well be that the finished blades from this region were simply forwarded to Kokura for inspection. In which case, the 1st Factory could have carried out the inspections. Kokura Arsenal did have a sword making forge, as did the other arsenals as well; but, I do not know the location of this particular forge. I would stick with what you have written for this one with the exception of changing the translation from KO to HO. Help with Star stamped shingunto please. Looking forward to seeing your next missive about sowrdsmtihs.

The First Factory of Kokura Army Arsenal only made blades that were shipped out to the various swordsmiths for finishing. These blades will normally have two inspections marks on the nakago mune. The top one is the final inspection mark and the bottom one is the factory inspection mark. ホ = 1st Factory of Kokura Army Arsenal. One can see how these blades were distributed for final finishing and assembly by looking at this post linked below. Arsenal Stamps., Post #384

All I can say is that the sword is located in Japan and anything beyond that is speculation.