Scogg

The inscription reads: 城州 住 國重 Which translates to: Joshu Ju Kunishige Which basically means: Kunishige made this in Joshu (or maybe in Chikuzen. Or perhaps in Chin-shu wherever that is). If my interpretation of the above is at all incorrect, I’m sure someone will correct me; and for Franks sake I encourage anyone to do so. You might think this would be enough for some detailed info, but unfortunately, nothing in Nihonto is that simple. There were many swordsmiths who signed “Kunishige” over the centuries, and unfortunately your blade does not appear to be dated (if it were dated, there would likely be an inscription on the other side of the tang). All hope is not lost though… Your sword looks interesting to me. We might be able to help narrow down a date range, but for that we’d need a lot of good photos. Primarily of the entire blade profile without fittings and the tip, both sides, and also both sides of the nakago up close. See my little photo guide below. All that said, even with perfect pictures, judging swords via photos is far from ideal. To get a really good idea of what you have, we always recommend getting it into the hands of a respected expert or togishi. -Sam

Thanks Rohan; Paul Martin mentioned it being in an article, so I had wondered if it's online somewhere. I really like that book. I was a little disappointed when the Yamashiro edition didn't have an extra section at the end like the Yamato book did with Saiha. I'm spoiled I suppose Thanks again. -Sam

Interesting. We may need better photos of the nakago. Who was the well known expert who said it was burnt? Attached is a comparison of two nakago from the same smith. This is from one of Tanobe Sensei articles on saiha that I have failed to locate. Both swords by Yasutsuna; the left is normal and the right nakago has experienced fire damage. I got this image from one of Paul Martins posts, in the ancient thread linked here: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/2771-this-should-be-interesting/#comment-22963

@FrankF, Thanks for sharing your sword with us. I could be mistaken, but your sword does not appear to be wartime to me, and may be older. I will move this to the Nihonto section to get more eyes on it. We can always move it again if necessary. Best, -Sam

@Bruce Pennington Unfortunately this was the best photo I got. I think it might be a partial Showa stamp, but very hard to tell

Thank you so much Conway and Tom! Much appreciated. It sounds like an interesting sword in untouched shape. I owe ya’ll one -Sam

Similar nakago to the recent post in the link below, but my attempts to match them failed. Same hot stamp. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/55768-help-with-asano-kanezane-nakago-inscription/#comment-583777 Could someone help me please with this translation? It’s for an individual that I do not personally know, and they plan to sell it. -Sam

@dkjw Hi Josh, welcome to the forum, I am inclined to agree with the above. It looks like a reproduction or fake to me. For the time being, I’m going to relocate this discussion to the “military swords of Japan” section. At least while we talk about the possibility of a stamp. I don’t think that’s an anchor stamp, but it’s very hard to see with the photo and would be in an unusual location. We can move it to the fake Japanese swords section later if we decide. Best of luck, -Sam

Very interesting to see a Type 95 sword without sarute. I see them this way in the market very often, but kind of assumed that they had been removed relatively recently. Looks like a Tokyo example. Thanks for sharing, Best, -Sam

“Straight = Kanbun” isn’t a hard rule, and nobody knowledgeable treats it as one. Sori is just one factor among many: proportions, kissaki, nakago, hamon, jigane, etc. Kantei has always been about the overall picture, not one isolated feature. The existence of pre-1600 blades with shallow sori also doesn’t invalidate broader sugata trends across periods. Outliers don’t erase patterns, and those exceptions are hardly new revelations to people who study swords seriously. Honestly, most people saying “probably later Edo” aren’t trying to diminish someone’s sword. They’re usually making the best call they can from limited photos. There are a lot of Edo blades out there. Nihontō kantei is difficult enough in hand, and often nearly impossible from photographs alone. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Kanbun era work or nidai smiths unless someone has already decided there is. Not every painting needs to be the Mona Lisa to have value. I’m also not sure who you mean by “alleged experts”. If forum opinions aren’t satisfying, the obvious solution is to submit the sword for papers. -Sam

I only use the long dash in formal writing (like in my Type 95 download). Only becasue it's a part of the Chicago Manual of Style formatting requirements in certain situations. To use it casually on a forum is a huge AI red flag. Like you say, it's not a convenient or natural hotkey to use. -Sam PS. It's not inherently wrong or even against the rules to utilize AI. But when it's seemingly 90%+ of a users content, it raises many of my moderator red flags; asking myself "is this a bot?".

I’m certainly learning from all the thoughtful responses by our generous members. That said, I do have some concern that many of these detailed replies appear to be directed toward content from the OP that seems heavily AI generated. Using AI as a translation tool is one thing, but in this case the posts across a couple threads now read more like fully generated responses rather than translated personal communication. I do appreciate the expertise people are contributing, and I only mention this because every “thank you” reply so far appears largely copy-pasted from an AI prompt... For a purchase of this caliber; I would personally feel a more sincere form of engagement would go a long way. Sorry if my views toward AI are a bit strict; but all this just gives me cause for concern... When this happens; it can be really hard to distinguish between what could be a bot, versus what could be a sincere inquiry. -Sam

All Variation#1 Type 95 swords have a brass plug instead of the flared drag. On the earliest examples of Variation#1 swords the brsss plug is horseshoe shaped, and later examples it’s squared off. I’m not aware of, and do not believe there are any exceptions. Congrats on the sale Dan, All the best, -Sam

Another one spotted on eBay. No scabbard

I chose to archive that Type95 sale post because it was my listing, and as a moderator I share responsibility for organizing and moving posts when necessary. Please understand that Brian and I handle these things manually and individually. Part of being a moderator is making judgment calls like this as I see fit for the board. Additionally, as a gold member I would have requested my post be archived, even if I were not a mod. This particular item will also be included in the download section of the next edition of my Type 95 monograph, so I wanted to preserve the thread here for reference purposes. I understand that what may be significant to me, may not be to you; but I see no harm. -Sam See below:

Some rumors floating around in the Event section. Looks like late November is likely, but have yet to see an official announcement

@Esaiah1391 Your other thread can be found here where people offered input, had questions, and some requests were made for more images

Unfortunately, it’s my belief that this is a well done forgery. I think it has a mix of real and fake parts, most of them being fake. It looks like maybe a real fuchi, seppa, and tsuka core; but with fake blade and other fittings. I see a distinct difference in quality between the saya mouth opening compared to the rest of the metal fittings. Many of which remind me of the crudely cast parts we’ve seen in other threads. See my images below of crudely fittings in my collection; I believe these to be modern fakes. These details on-top of the blade, of which looks very suspicious to me. The gimei and the corrosion there are big red flags. I’ve been wrong before and I’m certain that I will be again. These are just my opinions based on what we can see. There are late war examples that are very crude, and sometimes the distinction between fake and real can be hard to make… Even if it is real, I imagine the issues I raised above would continue to make people question its authenticity into the future which would be enough to steer me away from it if at all possible. Best of luck, -Sam

Hi @Esaiah1391, I’m going to relocate this to the general Nihonto section for now. Our for sales section is not for discussion, and it’s required by rule to have some specifications and an asking price. Let’s start elsewhere for the discussion for now. Your sword looks strange to my eyes… I’m struggling to make sense of what I’m seeing. Do you have more photos? Particularly of the entire blade without fittings? Regards, -Sam

One of our members here wrote the book below, and it also has a supplement. @mecox "Mino-To: Swords and Swordsmiths of Mino Province and Mino-To Supplement by Malcolm Cox. 1993." I'm not sure where it currently may be listed; but this is the first book that comes to mind. Best of luck, -Sam

Indeed Jean, maybe "cleaned" was not the best word choice for this situation. "Abraded" or maybe "grinded to oblivion" would have been more appropriate -Sam

Apologies for drifting off topic a little, but it looks like this one was so aggressively cleaned that the spine has gone from iori-mune to maru-mune or mitsu-mune. Amongst wartime Gendaito and Showato, do we ever see maru-mune or mitsu-mune? I’m not sure I recall ever seeing something other than iori-mune. Best, -Sam

I agree with Grey, that the chip is more than likely the result of mishandling. Battle damage usually looks pretty different. This sword was sold in January on facebook from a well-known seller. That seller did not state in the description anything about fire damage or re-tempering. I believe that this seller would have mentioned that, because i've seen him sell blades with fire damage before (if i remember correctly). Best, -Sam Description from that facebook seller in January:

Hello @Deba lover I separated your post from the other topic; because that topic was about an entirely different item from several years ago - a katana that had a cutting test. Best of luck with the translation. -Sam

Wonderful write-up Tom, thank you. @rebcannonshooter Generous input like that is what keeps the forum spinning. Thanks again and hope to chat soon, -Sam