John C

@vajo Chris: I am trying to figure out how to determine which RJT smith is being referenced when looking at rankings. For example, the sword above is signed Kunimitsu, however there were 6 ranked smiths named Kunimitsu. What factors or characteristics are used to determine this was signed by Chujo Saku ranked smith Shibata Kunimitsu? Vielen dank, John C.

Type 97 kai gunto? John C.

@Bruce Pennington Any significance to a double ko stamp or just double punched for some reason? John C.

Ditto. John C.

The bottom kanji looks like "saku" to me = "made this". I believe there are examples where he does sign like this. John C.

Sold for 28,160 GBP including premium. John C.

Mal: Firstly, thank you for your hard work and valuable information! Secondly, I have a question about which Kunimitsu is attributed to this sword. There were no less than 6 Kunimitsu listed in the rankings. There is a Shibata Kunimitsu listed under the Chujo Saku ranking. Is this the one referred to above? Thank you, John C.

Paul: I imagine you've looked at Sesko's List of Mei Characters. He lists the one above and 5 others associated with Kane. Not sure how it lines up with Slough, however. John C.

Ended up selling for 903 dollars. John C.

@Bruce Pennington Any idea on this stamp? I looked at both katakana and hiragana characters as well as stamp doc but didn't see anything. John C.

This sword was discussed in the auction forum. Late war or "emergency" stamp. John C.

...someone is going to. It's now up to 451 dollars! John C.

On Shopgoodwill.com and currently at 403 dollars. My vote is fake - but at least it is stamped. https://shopgoodwill.com/item/181823770 John C.

This one is interesting. Claims to be a paratrooper sword based on the sarute. Wants 4,500. https://www.ebay.com/itm/126127983975?hash=item1d5dd04d67:g:TMAAAOSw3OdlIfiY&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwD87uaYXiuVHI6N3Vz8pzwFEEin%2Fk8a8f2JLoWpQCjLwgrVPKBXqTVPrg932r5Z3dlvAfYfdVd2iChOoO0f%2FZpc%2BXCcCbZgmMw5%2FycDDI3gn71YzE5AHlnVOdoUk1SVZEtQF4X6aVxaRaNyuTCkJjZJIBRN6hc2an0kuHXzA9YLvw7G0HjLui1haNpQoJufZYtFm9qlHB2rXiUAepfiYHXba6nf5hRjhnMth71X3lvxRbE%2Bt2Wh5U4WGNQU2bXqpuw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-CShqbtYg John C.

It reminds me a little bit of the gensui-to shown on page 149 of Dawson. John C.

In the close ups, the tassel looks blue/brown, which would make it a company grade (Lieutenant, Captain, or warrant officer). Also, the ito may be a re-wrap. Note the uneven spacing and direction of the twists. Rob would be able to give you a better answer on that, however. John C.

John: I think phonetically it is: to si no tu ka yo But what that means, I have no idea. John C.

Paul: From those pics it does look like a showato type 98, however wakizashi were not made during the war to my knowledge. Two things could have happened; a sword meeting the minimum specs could have been donated or taken from home; or it could have been shortened during a field repair. There was an entire unit that did those. If the tassel is original, that is a plus. Just my opinion, John C.

@Bruce Pennington You have this label recorded already. Wasn't sure if you wanted to record the sword (saya actually) it came from: Kikumitsu dated 1945. https://www.ebay.com...3:g:wZwAAOSw3e5lLyNH John C.

Tom: You may need to wait for those folks who are acquainted with kantei to help out, however I can give you some of my observations. It looks to me as if the kissaki has been re-worked. Note the sharp angle. Also, it seems there is a filled mekugi-ana, which would suggest it has been remounted. These in conjunction with the deep sori suggest to me this is an older blade in gunto mounts. But again, take with a grain of salt until the experts weigh in. John C.

Yves: In general, polishing is very expensive - about 2,000 to 3,000 dollars (1,800 to 2,800 euros) per blade. Once polished, we go to great lengths to keep it as pristine as possible. I suspect that a sword that is going to be used for iai or any other form of martial art, would damage the integrity of the polish very quickly. Just something to consider. John C.

Dragonfly motif is interesting. Symbol of the samurai due to its strength; national symbol of Japan, buddhist symbol for the path to self-awareness or truth. Can't see the menuki very well. Does that match the dragonfly motif as well? John C.

Just something interesting (I hope) for those who have not seen it. Below is an example of using 2 twos rather than the traditional number 4 to avoid alternate meanings of the word "shi." The date would be Meiji 43. Here is an explanation from Japan-forward.com There are some variations of some of the characters. In the case of the number four (四), it is pronounced “shi.” This is the same sound for the pronunciation for the character 死, which means “death.” Similarly, the character for nine (九) can be pronounced “ku,” which also invokes the idea of “kurushii,” or extreme pain. Therefore, inscriptions containing these two characters are often avoided and alternative characters are used instead. For example, the character for four will almost always be written as two two’s. John C.

Here is a 45,000 dollar tanto offered by Komonjo for your perusal. Note the number of family mon represented on the saya. https://www.ebay.com...d:g:wT8AAOSwkVplMjDh John C.

So in re: Ron's sword above, it would most likely have to be traditionally made and water quenched to receive NBTHK papers, though there are recent exceptions. John C.