Kaigunto230

That’s actually an interesting point, @charlesf! I think I don’t necessarily want to throw money specifically at a repro, but it’s not something I’ve looked into.

@Scogg That’s wild! I’m always interested to learn about the variances between different manufacturers. You see that with firearms during the war too. Really intriguing. I probably will pick up a copper fuchi’d one at some point, as I enjoy getting Kokura-marked things.

I couldn’t imagine finding type 3 koshirae for under $200-300, so I agree. But it could look nice. And then I’d feel less nervous about handling it if it had a tsuka at least.

I think this is a very fair point, and I recognize the financials on bringing this one back wouldn’t make sense. But I do very much like this one and have so little money into it. So going down that goose chase could be worth it from that perspective. It looks naked and wrong next to my other pieces. Assuming I don’t, what is your thought on the best way of storing it? If I keep it lightly oiled, I’m worried about putting it into one of my katana bags and ruining that. So far I’ve just had it sit on my display as a naked blade.

Anyone have recommendations on whether or not to try and get this into a koshirae? Just today, I snoozed and lose-d on buying this from Raymond over on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/267248224571?itmmeta=01JYV51NR9W5BCERSD6PDAXJ1B&hash=item3e393c493b:g:o1YAAOSw9FJnbiWn I’ve also been tempted by some of the koshirae here on the forum, like this one: But I’m worried that trying to buy any saya just invites me spending money and it not fitting.

Thanks Bruce! Just another reason to hunt down a copper fuchi one to get the cool stampings

Thank you! That’s surprisingly early. Given the fittings, I would’ve taken a guess at 43 or 44. Do you know what hat the Kokura supervision entailed? Did the weapons travel down to Kokura for inspection after completion, or were there Kokura employees on site at Tokyo and Nagoya etc to finalize them after completion (my assumption)?

Longterm, I’ve wanted to add a Type 95 to my collection, but I haven’t wanted to pay the price for one. I like the shape and fittings of 94s, 97s, and 98s better. But on a local gun trader forum, an older gentleman was selling his for $500, and I shot him an offer for $425, and he accepted it. When we met up, he said he was just looking to help out a younger collector, had originally paid $450 15 years ago from Steward’s Antiques, and we chatted for a long time sitting out on his porch. Before I left, he popped back inside and came back with a silk flag and said “Take this too. It’s yours.” Very, very kind. I have a Tokyo First sword (Dawson pattern 2A). There’s a little corrosion on the blade but not much, and the sarute is broken. I don’t see any stamps on the iron fuchi. The only stamp is the final acceptance mark by the serial. I was very surprised by the sugata on this pattern once I held it in hand. The kissaki is almost a chu-kissaki, and the blade seems flimsy overall. My 97 and Zoheito are much more robust. My understanding is that at this time based on the serial below 130,000-ish, Kokura was still supervising the program? Anyone have a guesstimate for when it was produced? The books don’t seem to get into that specificity. But for paying something like 30% of the market price (with a free flag!) I can’t complain at all.

I was in the same boat! Now I’m trying to learn about the various official forges. It’s still interesting to me that this sword has the meo for the forge itself at Kokura but not the smith’s mei and therefore doesn’t follow Omura’s description. I wonder if any other arsenal forges had similarly signed swords. A fun continued research process.

Fascinating, thank you! More study for me to do!

@Kiipu Thank you! Because I can miss the obvious sometimes - you’re saying the sword here is NOT actually a Zoheito at all but a Gendaito, traditional Nihonto made in an Arsenal forge (Zoheisho) but not star stamped nor signed by the traditional smith?

@BANGBANGSAN Thank you for sharing! Fascinating to think of our swords being made so close in time together. @mecox might be interested in seeing the mei for his book. Yours looks in much nicer condition than mine. Are you able to determine if, despite the lack of star stamp, it's gendaito or not? Also, interesting to see it in those mounts instead of RS Type III mounts. That's been another thing to think through if I try and find mounts for the sword - what style would be most appropriate.

I messaged Chris Bowen, and he was kind enough to reply with additional information about his thoughts on the sword. He said that he never gives attributions when “there is nothing visible in the blade. The yasuri-me, style of nakago, and mei are all similar to Moritaka and I would suspect that he was involved in some fashion. I would suggest finding out more about Moritaka and who else worked/trained at the Kokura Arsenal; look for post war smiths as well who were trained my Moritaka. The work style is close so if it wasn't Moritaka it was likely a student.” He encouraged me to study Moritaka swords, as Moritaka was “someone with similar workmanship who also contributed to the Kokura arsenal and thus was a good starting point to research further.” He believes the sword to not be a “shobu-zukuri blade, but rather a shinogi-zukuri blade that has been abused and lost its yokote.” That’s a question I had too, so it’s nice to get an evaluation from an expert. He said that in the current polish, it was impossible to determine if the sword was showata or gendaito. I tend to agree. He mentioned sending it to a togishi to polish a window. The thought intrigues me, but I also know that polishing would be very expensive. I wonder how much a window would cost and if a quality togishi exists in the States. I worry about sending the sword overseas; if it proves to be showato, isn’t that something that can have the sword confiscated and destroyed? Does anyone have experience with getting a State-side window done? Regardless of the cost, I anticipate holding onto this sword for decades, so maybe at some point in the future it would be an option. In the meantime, a hearty thank you to Chris for the follow-on information.

Thanks, @Bruno! To my understanding from Cox's book and Ohmura's site, there's no hamon and the sword is oil quenched with a dry polishing.