Kiipu

昭和壬午秋　ヤ 七三六 http://ohmura-study.net/712.html And now four 1942 dated Mantetsu 興亜一心 blades stamped with an M partial inspection stamp along with a 東 stamped kabutogane is known. The latest one is also stamped with the symbols for 東京第一陸軍造兵廠 [Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal] and 株式會社中野商店 [KK Nakano Shōten] on the other side of the kabuogane as well! See list below. 1. 昭和壬午春　ウ 　　二〇 2. 昭和壬午春　ノ 　四三〇 3. 昭和壬午春　ヤ 　七三六 4. 昭和壬午春　ヤ 一〇四八

I think Bruce is testing me! "Green" is 連 and "Blue" is unknown. Stamped on the reverse side with 連:　セ 一〇二九,　セ 一〇六六,　セ 一一四三,　セ 一三一〇. Stamped on the obverse side with 連工:　セ 二四三〇 and セ 二五七五.

And another update. While glancing through a 1928 Japanese Army manual, I ran across the character ???? again and the furigana stated the pronunciation was サヤ [saya].

The highest Suya with a copper tsuka that I know of is 6444 with no blade inspection mark. [SoIJ mentions 6561 but does not state if the blade has an inspection mark or not.] http://www.guntoartswords.com/010737.html I know of three Suya Type 95s with aluminium tsuka in the 6,000 range: 6276東, 6787東, and 6877東. The second retention bolt [目釘 mekugi] on serial number 6787東 has the same type of flattened head as you depict in the OP.

Below are the characters in the title to help you with your book search. 伊勢の刀工 = Ise no tōkō.

Just as important is Ohmura sensei has a Type 95 Military Sword made by Nagoya Arsenal, serial number 名10606, incorrectly identified on his website as serial number 9090T, that also has the "ko" 小 inspection mark. Odd that two swords one hundred digits apart have the same additional inspection mark. http://ohmura-study.net/791.html

銃砲課九五式軍刀刀緒装著要領規定の件 https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C01005222500 九五式軍刀（改正鍔に対するもの）刀緒装置要領規定の件 https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C01005289200

Deleted and moved to "Arsenal Stamps."

That is an army contract blade made in 昭和癸未春 [spring 1943], serial number ユ 二〇九 [YU 209]. Does the nakago have any W or M inspection marks? If so, how many?

Help please with translation of pages in a MG manual Post #5, rows 10-12. http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1003131

Not really. "Help please with translation of pages in a MG manual" http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showpost.php?s=63a9ef40d86060925b9ed91a815bc566&p=8445793&postcount=5

The company logo belongs to 株式會社尚兵館. The company also printed manuals for the army so it is not just a sword company. Below is a link to another reference that gives a slightly different name for the company by adding "gunso" to the name. "Japanese Sword Company Logos of the World War II Era" http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/logo/logo.htm

It does look as if he is carrying a sack! Budai 布袋 (also known as Hotei or Pu-Tai) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai

As always, comments, corrections, criticism, or additions welcomed to this bibliography of military dictionaries. Churchill, A. G. A Dictionary of Military Terms and Expressions: English—Japanese and Japanese—English. 2nd ed. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1902. https://books.google.com/books?id=54ZYdsoU9BMC Motoda, S. [元田･作之進]. War Words: A Dictionary of Military & Naval Words & Phrases. Eigaku Shimpo Sha, 1905. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/843382 Calthrop, E. F. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1907. http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/842833. Calthrop, E. F. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 2nd ed. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1909. Yamaguchi, Miki, [山口･造酒] and Yoshitaro Uyeno [上野･義太郎]. An English-Japanese Dictionary of Military and Naval Terms [英和陸海軍兵語辞典]. Meiseikwan, 1910. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/842832 Strong, Geo. V. A Japanese-English Dictionary for Military Translators. Kelly and Walsh, Ltd., 1911. Honjo and Masuda. A New Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 1920. Akashi. A Dictionary of English and Japanese Military and Naval Terms. 1923. Calthrop, E. F., John A. C. Somerville, and K. S. Morgan. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 3rd ed. Maruzen Company, 1923. Hiraoka, J. [平岡･閏造]. English-Japanese Dictionary of Military Terms [英和兵語辭典]. 兵用圖書, 1931. Creswell, H. T., J. Hiraoka [平岡･閏造], and R. Namba. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. Kaitakusha, 1932. See below for the Word War 2 reprints by country. AU impressions. A. M. F.: 1942. GB impressions. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner: 1942 & 1943. US impressions. University of Chicago Press: 1st 1942-08, 2nd 1942-09, 3rd 1942-11, 4th 1943-12, 5th ?, 6th 1945-06. United States. War Department. Japanese-English Glossary, Technical Communication Terms. TM 30-485. 1943-05-01. https://books.google.com/books?id=rTS4AAAAIAAJ United States. War Department. Japanese Military Dictionary: Japanese-English, English-Japanese. TM 30-541. 1944-08-29. https://books.google.com/books?id=RQD1bMVi-2UC United States. South West Pacific Area. Allied Translator and Interpreter Section. Japanese-English Medical Dictionary. Enemy A.T.I.S. Publication, no. 9. 1945-02-07. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog ... 410080R-bk. United States. Army Service Forces. Office of the Chief of Ordnance. Translation of Japanese Ordnance Markings. August 1945. http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/comp ... 2758/rec/1 (Located at the end of Part 3.) United States. War Department. The Supplementary Japanese-English Dictionary. TM 30-481. 1945-09-05. https://books.google.com/books?id=FChkAAAAMAAJ United States. War Department. Japanese-English Technical Terms Dictionary. TM 30-482. November 1946. https://books.google.com/books?id=jbHP5THxwo0C

So that other translators can duplicate my results, I will briefly explain how I posted the character. I opened a blank MS Word document and selected a Chinese font, in this particular case MingLiU-ExtB, but any traditional Chinese font should work just as well. I then used the Insert-Symbols and scrolled down to radical 177 革 and selected the character ????. Once inserted in the document, just copy and paste into your NMB post. On a related note, check out Nick's latest exposé on this subject. "Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto" http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post2045102/#post2045102

???? I finally found the suspect character ???? in a 1903 dictionary entitled 漢和大字典 and the pronunciation given is shitsu. From there, I was able to locate the meaning in a military dictionary. Shitsu, n. ???? a sheath. Source: Creswell, H. T., J. Hiraoka 平岡閏造, and R. Namba. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. American ed. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1942. Page 1060.

Apparently at least one other Mantetsu sword, serial カ 二二八, has surfaced in recent years with a similar inscription coming via Japan. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey/Study http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/attention-mantetsu-owners-survey-study-715028/ However, at least one collector thinks these type of inscriptions are suspect. Gen. Yamashita's sword and why those Generals' and Colonels' swords are fake http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/gen-yamashitas-sword-why-those-generals-colonels-swords-fake-732422/ All of the above subject to revision by Bruce & JP, Co., Ltd., of course.

Already translated via the link below. Mantetsu help http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/31155-mantetsu-help/

Does anyone know what these characters 金丸 (Kanamaru) mean in regards to the sword below? Same sword, same owner, just different forums. 金丸 Amahide http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9537-amahide/?do=findComment&comment=100523 Swords, swords, anyone have swords ?? https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?20572-Swords-swords-anyone-have-swords&p=151338#post151338

In regards to the sixth character that looks like [革室], the Imperial Japanese Army used this character for scabbard instead of 鞘 (さや). I am unable to locate this character in my references so any additional information about this character is welcomed. Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post2035731/#post2035731 Nick Komiya, 2020-01-13, 03:46 AM

Mantetsu Yearly Serial Number Prefixes 昭和丁丑 1937:　Unknown. 昭和戊寅 1938:　C, N. 昭和己卯 1939:　N, V, W, イ, ロ, ハ, ニ, ホ. 昭和庚辰 1940:　ホ, ヘ, と, チ, リ, ヌ, ル, ヲ. 昭和辛巳 1941:　ワ, カ, ヨ, タ, レ, ソ, ツ, ネ, ナ. 昭和壬午 1942:　ラ, ム, ウ, ヰ, ノ, オ, ク, ヤ. 昭和癸未 1943:　マ, ケ, フ, コ, エ, テ, ア, サ, キ, ユ, メ, ミ, シ, ヱ, ヒ. 昭和甲申 1944:　ヒ, モ, セ, ス, (イ). 昭和乙酉 1945:　い. Purple = English letters. Black = Katakana. Red = Hiragana. Note how similar some of the characters are to one another. For example, ソ and ツ in 1941.

And thank you for giving us a subforum to discuss gunto. I can assure you that I have learned for more than what I have given!

According to the leaflet handed out by the committee, the 将校軍刀鑑査委員会 [Officer Military Sword Inspection Committee] was located inside the 陸軍兵器行政本部 [Army Ordnance Administration Headquarters] building located at 東京市牛込區若松町 [Wakamatsu Town, Ushigome Ward, Tōkyō City]. See frames 5 and 7 of the document linked below. https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C14020933500?IS_KEY_S1=C14020933500&IS_KIND=SimpleSummary&IS_STYLE=eng&IS_TAG_S1=InfoSDU& About half of this document is already translated at the link below. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/family-short-blades-gunto-688110/

The link below is the first one that came to my attention back in September of last year. The serial number is way off according to Pennington's Mantetsu table. Should be dated 1942 and not 1940. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-9?do=findComment&comment=302430

The Kōa Isshin 興亞一心 blades used two different styles of kanji for 亞. The early blades dating from Spring and Fall of 1939 used 亞 and those dating from Winter 1939 and after used 亜. See Ohmura links below. However, the Winter 1942 dated sword linked below is using the early version of 亞 and not the later version of 亜. This is the only exception I have found to date. Does anyone know of any others? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4407-mantetsu-with-attribution/ 興亞一心 marked blades. 昭和己卯春　W 38. 昭和己卯秋　ハ 二四 [HA 24]. 昭和壬午冬日鷹信焠之　ヤ 二四六 [YA 246]. Ohmura Links http://ohmura-study.net/221.html http://ohmura-study.net/222.html