loiner1965

cheers rich....your site is perfect for information but unfortunately this kao is not listed... its not a one of as i seen it on another of his swords too....its a mystery as well as he does not always stamp it on every sword tang

looking for links or page scans if possible for showa smiths kaos esp fukumoto kanemune please

yes but part of my kao is missing........

you think alot like me in asking what seems to be silly questions but you want to know the answers too like......why different file marks or nakago jiri shapes...hamon shapes even mune shapes too

no mine is by fukumoto kanemune....son of fukumoto amihide the famous world war 2 smith...it has the showa stamp only....lol now i have to research kao now

after hours of internet seaching i found on another forum which i had to join to view the post the answer.....its kanemune artists signature or kokuin....i think another recent smith called kanezane does the same thing.... http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/kanezane.htm so i have a katana of good size and balance....possibly mill steel and i think water quenched. he also took the time to do file marks on the tang and a little kokuin next to his mei. obviously not the usual machine made blade which was churned out in the 1000s for the war effort. these swords prove that they is grey areas in showa made swords.... here is the stamp from another kanemune sword which mine should look like if the tang had not been shaved off in its past history.....many thanks to stephen for pointing this out...

will do stephen and i will post the pic i found on another forum as well....at work at the moment

found it...its his attempt at a Kokuin or artist stamp......how do i remove this thread so i can save bandspace as this post serves no person to anyone else but myself

yes stephen.....i agree they have been most lenient and helful with this sword.....it is a stamp of some sort and does appear to be 2 circles but of what i do not know

just for arguments sake if it wasnt the railway stamp then what could it be...the showa stamp is a hit and miss attempt and this stamp is in the right position and is a stamp....appears to be part of 2 circles and straight lines. looked around at other stamps and they is nothing it can be and this smith as in the other thread did do the railway stamp....not into parting with it but just curious as i love to see it polished....your views please or explanations

hard to tell due to light and polish but the temper goes all the way.....not sure if its nortare or three peaks etc

keep it and treasure it as some of us would love a sword like this,,,,,,

never noticed this on my katana by fukomoto kanemune before as it was so minute to see but its here at the bottom of the tang.........seen the previous thread about the so called rarity but anyone know why they are rare

just to add.....my sword which is made by fukomoto kanemune which started this thread off and i never noticed before also has the elusive winged wheel stamp on the tang....cannot take good picture of hamon as its hard to capture but easy to see if you understand....i might have it polished lol

speedy recovery brian and hope everything goes well for you........

sorry if this has been done before but how can one tell if a sword as been water or oiled tempered...reason i ask is the smith of my showa katana has been known to water temper his swords and not oil. http://www.ryujinswords.com/kanemune2.htm here is a link to one of his swords and mine is very similar to this...i could post pics of the hamon but cannot see hada if any,,,,,but its not in polish, googled a few links of this smith and some of his swords are advertised as having hada.... sorry if its not nihonto but if i cannot ask here how can i find out......many thanks

cheers stephen....email address is stephenbarrow@ntlworld.com i like to think of it as semi-nihonto

as anyone got page 50 from John Slough's book about the showa smith fukumoto kanemune they could possibly scan for me please....just want to read about him as i have one of his swords....many thanks in advance

cheers rich for your input, would it be reasonable to assume that he made the blade using machine ready metal then clay tempered it in the traditionel way as i seen numerous links on the net detailing this.....sort of semi nihonto you might say

yes....he was amahides legit son i believe and rated low to medium smith....was all his swords traditionally made even the showa stamped ones as he did sign them with and without the arsenal stamp

is this the showa arsenal stamp as its hard to tell.....many thanks

these little 4 inch blade paper knives are they tempered the same way as true nihonto or are they etched on.....just see them from time to time and just wondered

my friend suggested that this silver ornament might be a family mons and suggested saito but i am too inexperienced to agree

http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/kizu.htm please look here on mr steins site which is most informative

cheers mate many thanks