John C

I found this one that is somewhat close. John C.

Looks heavily played with by grandkids or intentionally roughed up. It probably doesn't mean too much, however my souvenir is also numbered 66 (see below) and looks decidedly different. John C.

David: Was the back of the blade, which is now basically a modified Wharncliffe design, re-hardened or left as "soft" metal? John C.

I think Noah @Bridges may be able to help you identify this. John C.

page 41... John C.

page 40... John C.

page 39... John C.

I found a short TRUE Magazine article from June 1958 stuffed into a copy of Nippon-to I recently purchased. I thought I would post it for those interested. John C

Ah. Forgot that the tai kanji has more than one meaning. John C.

Steve: It looks like the middle row is the date 1944. The kanji on the top left is Tai for "big" or "large" so maybe a size??? I am also interested in what the translators come up with. Trying to learn myself. John C.

Now you tell me! John C.

Sure. Here it is with the same date; also listing the contents as two swords. But my intent of the post was about the use of DDT. John C.

I tend to agree that a weapon needs to be functional; even if there is some additional symbolic reason to carry it. My purpose in throwing this stuff out there is just to present an alternative. Chinese fake; late war; maybe there is another reason. To prove a theory we have to control for other variables and reject the null hypothesis. I'm just chucking in the control variables so they can be at least considered...then eliminated! John C.

No worries. I knew I was opening myself up. I too believe in Occam's Razor, however. That's why "symbol of authority" rather than "functional weapon." Japanese version of the swagger stick. John C.

Thank you. This is why I ask here instead of relying on google translate. Google had the first version as Mamoru Hitachi and this version as Mamoru Mutsu. The problem with the translation apps is that they don't understand context. John C.

We know Mr. Yao was the manager of the Tenshozan Works in Kamakura, which made the blades. So I suppose the swords could be made there as well. I am not sure, however, the Japan Sword Company has anything to do with the PX sales. Other than the article that talks about servicemen getting USMC swords and swagger sticks made there, I can't find anything that says they supplied the PX with any swords. I probably missed something, however, so maybe someone else can chime in. John C.

I am sure the criticism will follow...but what if some of these types of swords were not meant to be truly functional weapons? A corporal gets a field promotion to NCO and just needs a symbol of authority to lead his men? Though I suppose he could pick up a sword off of the battlefield, maybe instead he buys the cheapest thing he can find. John C.

I assume so. I was researching souvenir swords (see the bottom sword) when I came across this pic. John C.

Thank you both. I could come up with kore but that was about it. Now that I see it printed, I will give the rest a shot. John C.

Great! Thank you. John C.

Folks: This label was inside a serviceman's bring-back box with two swords. John C.

That's why I am hoping to pull the original document. It may have other useful information about the souvenir swords (e.g. hopefully a description). John C.

@Bruce Pennington do you know how to navigate the National Diet library referenced by @Ian B3HR2UH so we can pull the original document re: Capt. Wall mentioned above? John C.

Hello: I recently purchased Nippon-to by Hakusui Inami. Inside, there was a drawing of a tsuba with kanji as well as some writing on the inside cover (the darker picture). I made a feeble attempt to look up the kanji, but to no avail. To be honest, even after buying dictionaries, Japanese language workbooks, and downloading signatures, I still suck at it. And this is handwriting! I would really appreciate any assistance you could give. John C. p.s. my genealogist wife found that the previous owner of the book was married to Ayako Ichikawa (born Tokyo 1928), but I don't think I see the kanji for that name anywhere.

I suppose it's possible. But I think it would have been odd to mix army and navy parts. Plus the snipped nakago on most of the blades (though not all) leads me to believe these were purpose built. That said, there are blades with normal nakago jiri and signed that I suspect were surplus and used first. Indeed, we are working with the preponderance of the evidence. What we need is a smoking gun! John C.