Conway

@Bruce Pennington Here are some more pics. Conway

@Bruce Pennington See below. There is an anchor stamp. On the reverse side there is only the "酒" Conway

Has anyone come across a Takayama-to souvenir with stamped numbers? Found this one #65 (Not sure what it says after the Masa -Hiro/Nao). The other interesting feature is the anchor which is very faint. Conway

Is this the stamp referring to the 2 shaku? Or something else? Not sure if you guys saw this post as it was on the previous page. Conway

Here is the signed side of the tang. From the pictures, there is no anchor visible. Conway

Greetings, Has anyone identified this stamp? It's on an Inaba marked Kai Guntō. Thanks. Conway

@Spetsnazdan Dan, The backstrap (top of the hilt) will tell you if it is an Army vs. a police sword. Police swords have a badge and Army a cherry blossom. Additionally, police have 5 petal blossoms on the side of the hilt whereas Army have 10 petals. If you have Dawson's book you will be able to easily tell the difference. Conway

@Bruce Pennington I took the advice of @Kiipu and referenced Jan Culbertson's books on Chinese swords and did not find any matches. Many of the Nationalist-era swords have plum blossoms, but they are of a different quality. There are no late-Qing swords with plum blossoms in his books either. Maybe the picture doesn't show enough detail, but the "dimpling" on the top of the handle is different than Japanese parade swords. It's dimpled "out" instead of "in" - if that makes sense. If I knew Mr. Culbertson was still active in the sword community I would try to reach out to him. Conway

CJ, I think the first post in this thread summed up collecting Japanese parade swords pretty well. There are people who collect these but the common variations do not command a premium. Take a look on eBay sold items and you will get a pretty good idea of the market. As far as getting it refurbished, most collectors would say it ruins the value. Even the dark patination of the brass is more desirable than brass that has been shined up. Your sword is in good condition. The wire wrap on the grip is intact and the blade doesn't seem to be missing much of the plating. It is typical for the scabbard to have rust showing through. Conway

Greetings, Can anyone translate this inscription? Are the first two characters from top-bottom a name, 千青, followed by 校三 "School 3." Academy sword or something else? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks. Conway

CJ, To my eye that looks like a "W" as in Wakase Military Sword Workshop. A better photo of that stamp would probably help. Conway

Dan, Does the Kyu guntō have any stamps above the blade on the guard? Sometimes they will have a maker/retailers stamp there. Conway

It looks like a British style Sam Browne belt. They had a long service life so not necessarily a repro. Other countries adopted this style of belt too. Conway

Thanks for the replies. As you can see from the pictures, the sword is decorated with the fifteen-stamen plum blossom. I have not found another example of this particular backstrap yet. The sword is of Japanese-made parade sword quality as opposed to the more crude Manchukuo or Chinese swords usually encountered. There are no crossed flags either. I am interested if you @Kiipu @BANGBANGSAN think this is Manchukuo or a different colonial sword. Thanks. Conway

Greetings, I picked up a Type 19 kyu-guntō with an inscription on the ricasso. It does not resemble inscriptions on academy swords I have seen. I made an attempt at it but could not make out the second and third characters (top - bottom). 禾XX士連局. I am, however, only confident I guessed the first and fourth characters correctly. Any help with the translation would be appreciated. Thank you. Conway

@Stegel To me that area does not look entirely straight. I thought @vajo made a good point about the inverse dimpling on the handle. Have you seen this before on other Type 95s? I know you are one of the resident experts on these. Not doubting your opinion just trying to learn from those who know. Thanks. Conway