Fusilier

Cheers Bruce, fascinating. That would certainly make sense although the obvious question is why only on blades from these smiths, some swords and certain bits of equipment, shovels etc. Having spent over 30 years in the Army (albeit not the IJA) it has the feel of a formation / district quartermasters arrangement. Maybe a pre-inspection before being taken into service. Interesting topic anyway.

Here you go Bruce, you were right as usual !! Looks like another M/W stamp plus the number 190. Have you come to a conclusion as to what the M/W symbol indicates ? Cheers David

Thanks Brian, and apologies for adding to your workload.

Will do, I'll post them in a couple of hours when I've managed to get the kids out of the house.

G'day again, I didn't sign onto the site properly just now, so when I attempted to post my request for assistance I ended up having to sign in and inadvertently created a new profile !! The above is me though, apologies to the administrators, I'm a technophobe.

G'day Everyone, I purchased this rough showa era gunto for re-sale some time ago and was informed it was signed 'Kanetsune'. I've attempted to find images of a similar signature and haven't been able to. There also appears to be a lightly struck stamp below the signature which I initially thought (having consulted Bruce's outstanding reference) might be a partial Gifu-in-sakura stamp. However, I'm now thinking it might be the 'sideways M shaped' Army “Material Inspection Stamp” shown on Page 5 of Bruce's paper, second from top. I'd appreciate any assistance confirming the signature and the stamp. Cheers David

Thank you both

G'day Guys, you may recall that I recently posted some images of a Kōa Isshin Mantetsu (South Manchuria Railway Co. Ltd.) sword I purchased on spec as part of a three gunto package from a general militaria collector in Waga Waga. This is the second of the three and I was hoping you may be able to tell me something about it and translate the mei for me. Cheers David

Thanks Bruce, I'd appreciate that as it would be good to know what it says or who owned it. Cheers David

Thanks Bruce, I'm very curious to know what it says. I can try and get a clearer shot of the label if that would help, just let me know.

Thanks John, Have you any idea what the surrender label says?

G'day Guys, I recently purchased on spec three gunto from a general militaria collector in Waga. On the first of these, at least to my eye, the mei look very similar to the Kōa Isshin Mantetsu (South Manchuria Railway Co. Ltd.) produced gunto that you fella's helped me identify last year, although on that one the mei on the back edge of the nakago were obscured by oxidization. In addition, the saya on this one also has two pencil inscribed paper labels which may be the officers name and address. I was hoping that I maybe able to get some assistance translating the mei on the nakago and on the saya. Cheers David

Sound advice Rohan, it'll be interesting to see how accurate it actually gets over time. Quite a useful metric to apply to AI though; 'can you accurately translate the mei on this nakago?'.

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate that, I was finding it particularly hard to make out the signature and only confused myself further when I had the brilliant idea of asking Microsofts CoPilot AI. It told me the smith was Kanesune which just goes to show that it may be 'Artificial' but its not necessarily 'Inteligent' Mal, really appreciate the detail. I'll get the rest of the swords photographed and posted as soon as I get some time. Happy New Year Every one

G'day, I've just got my hands on a pretty large collection of WW2 Shin-Gunto, which I'll get around to photographing and posting on the board. I'm having trouble translating the script on both sides of the Nakago on this one which appears to me to be more stylized than usual, although I'm clear that may just be me. Its marked on both the Nakago, the Mune-Machi and the Tsuba with the stamp that Bruce claissified as the ‘Gi’ stamp in his excellent reference. I'd really appreciate some help. Its also production numbered in red as you'll see in the photos.

G'day, I've asked in the translation section if anyone can assist me in determining the provenance of a mumei gunto I acquired as part of a collection of 3 swords. A link to that thread is here; The patina and profile of the Nakago made me think it might not be a shin gunto. I thought that perhaps it might be older or something else. I haven't re-posted the pictures from the other thread here but I can take additional ones if that would be of help. I'd be hugely grateful for any insights anyone may have? Cheers David

Thanks Bruce, I think you're right, they appear to be forging flaws to me, certainly inconsistencies in the composition of the steel.

Pictures of the blade tip

Cheers Bruce, Answering your questions in reverse order; the sword with the 'sho' stamp is the one I've called No.2 here and that Jan has attributed to 氏房 Ujifusa. In the photographs at the top of the second post in this thread, where I've photographed the three swords together, its the longest of the three and at the top of the first two images in that post. As for photo's of the Mumei sword here are some pictures of the mid section, I'll get some pics of the tip when my two year olds birthday party is done. Anyone who wants to experience real chaos just needs to spend a few minutes in my house this morning !! All the best David

Thanks you very much Jan, most grateful for that.

Last but not least, the Nakago of the 3rd Sword with the 'Seki' Stamp.

This is the Nakago of the 2nd Sword, with the 'Sho' Stamp. Any translation assistance would be most gratefully received.

As mentioned, I've now photographed all three swords and pictures are attached below. I'd still be interested if anyone has an opinion on the age of the first sword , pictures of which are in the first post above. The other two swords, both appear to be Showa era Shin Gunto and both display stamps, one a 'seki' stamp and the other a 'sho' stamp. I'd be very grateful for any assistance translating the inscriptions and identifying the smiths. First off then, pictures of the 3 swords:

G'day All, I've just purchased a collection of 3 swords, acquired in WW2, for re-sale and while I'll share pictures of all three when the kids give me more than 5 mins to photograph them, one of them has sparked my curiosity. It's mumei and the condition and profile of the Nakago made me think it might not be a shin gunto. Is it older or something else? Grateful for any insights. I'll get pictures of the other two this weekend. Cheers David

Thank you