Jcstroud

Borrowed this picture from war relics post Toyosuke # 87 also a souvenir sword by appearance

https://imgur.com/a/o5BLSt4 above. You will find the url link to all the photos of the Toyosuke sword that were provided by @Karu the previous owner ! Special thanks to him for his contribution to this study!!!Very. Cool.

I think this falls into the whisky tango foxtrot catagory. ☺️

These photos are ones that you posted on january 18 ,2022 titled ???-Suke,help! This one in particular was not kiri or flat cut.

Interesting note #65 the nakabo is not suriage . Like the others ! Working on it Bruce the pics were previously posted I will have to backtrack to find the links .I certainly do not wish to be a source of frustration. My apologies. I am still figuring all this out.

Also there was a #36 in France that sold also wish I had that one. On naturabuy auction site.

As far as I know I have yet to see one in triple digits

One more for the collection

So far this what I do and dont know about Toyosuke so far...all of his blades so far have been suriage or flat cut his trademark,his nakagos crosshatched all but one so far have been taisabiko antirust steel ,razor sharp even after 80 years. All but one were in post directive 54 aka end war postwar kamakura special case Kaigunto koshirai configuration. It is possible he was a resident tosho at Toyokawa Naval Arsenal But not yet verified..the interesting thing is that the anchor stamp used on all but one appear the same 4mm circled anchor with fishhook style barbs seems to indicate Seki mino area Takayama ,Inaba shrine area origin.most are aka souvenir swords sold by Tokyo PX,Pusan Korea .investigation ongoing anyone wishing to help are more than welcomed but critics not. Thank you. John

Now That is what you call a HOT STAMP

What may I ask is aoi? A= Absolutely O=out of I= Ideas. 😊

Not to worry I know that Kintaro Hattori was the owner of the building it was conjecture on my part that the two were connected contractually it only seemed very possible that the two were related or perhaps members of the same sword club due to the fact that very shortly after the take over of the Hattori Building by the 8th Army regiment Tenshozan cut a contract for the souvenir swords that was 2 months quite a coincidence that Kintaro and Zenhiro Hattori 's businesses coincided in the same place that is all I am saying with all due respect. Please forgive if I seem to be confrontational not intended I am very grateful for all the help and support you all have given me you have a friend here.. Guaranteed. John

Pardon but I think we took a wrong turn in Albakerque?!@$%% back to the stamps.😊

Ok maybe yes maybe no but on August 25th through the 30th of1942 the Matsuya Department store had a Gunto Summer sale that had fittings and Swords on sale. Hideki tojo Ministry of the Army ,the Osaka Sword Club,The Japanese Sword Newspaper all Hosted the Event displaying the latest external specifications aka Rinji Seishinki this info came from the late and highly respected Nick Komiya. With all due respect.seems unlikely they did not know each other since they both had shops Tokyo and Osaka not to mention others. Small world no?

If my sources are correct the " mustache" stamp is called the Yamagata stamp it signifies War Department Property found it amongst your colleages posts here on NMB this anchor stamp as you know is a Tenshozan Tanrenjo stamp used on upper level Kaigunto

Interesting thought about the Px acquired souvenir blades is that I have yet to see one that was not "anti-rust aka stainless without the anchor in circle stamp , I guess they are not good enough for us but good enough for them perhaps.given their dark disdain for non traditionally made blades but later changed their opinion after Having seen the excellent examples such as Kazuichi and Ichiro Hattori ,Fujiwara Kanenaga and more but the purists dont want to hear that.

After all this you gotta do what ya gotta do

What coild explain all of this is Zenhiro Hattori was said to be the owner of Tenshozan Tanrenjo he also had forges in Osaka,Mishima City ,and ties to Seki city,Takayama forge,and inaba forge.He had established a large network of forges and stores .Some of these forges as you all know had resident Naval inspectors such as the Hattori forge in Osaka.It is no wonder how they could produce 8747 Souvenirs from November 6th 1945 and finish production by March of 1947 .it is said his son inlaw Eiji was instumental in saving many swords after the wars end. This probably explains why there are so many different stamps and as a result the swords were used as surplus. The Hattori Connection.And after all that where were they sold? The Hattori Building. Hmmmmm.

Question: if a sword was proven to be made after the war would it still be shunned irregardless of quality?

Ha ha ha I know my artwork is bad but.....oh by the way the Toyosuke souvenir for sale in France did not sell and got reposted. I tried to put in a bid but their website is like mission impossible .fubared if you know what I mean. But 1800 euros is a lot if you ask me would have offered at least a grand or better more with a certificate.

鎌倉 カマクラ. I think trystan wrote. KAMAKURA not sure what the two first kanji symbols are .mid war,4mm stamps,varied locations, same filemark patterns,

Dont know if this helps but here is one more to compare

REST IN PEACE TOYOSUKE

Bang Bang san do you have more info on this sword? Nakago pics etc?

Yes they from the same sword I only have this one Toyosuke #45 found it in Puerto rico mountains.7 years ago