sanemichi??

[Mark]

I have a katana with a "star stamp" or RIKUGUN JUMEI TOSHO. I think it reads Sanemichi saku. I can not find any listing for this smith in the RIKUGUN JUMEI TOSHO. So maybe I have it translated incorrectly or maybe he is just unknown. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

[Brian]

Mark,

To me, the carving is very unconvincing. Even the star itself, to me, looks hesitant and maybe hand carved?

The kanji and even spacing seem done in a way that makes me think non-native Japanese. What is your gut feel from having it in hand?

 

Brian

[Mark]

Brian

 

I am sure it is genuine WWII, it comes in beat up late '44 mounts that are right for the blade (and clearly fit and were made for the blade). It has chogi temper with nice sunagashi. I am positive it is a real star stamped blade. Maybe the guy was not that experienced?

[cabowen]

Mark-

 

I can find no quick reference to this smith, but the sane/masa kanji in the mei might point to a student in the Kato family. Please send me some photos of the blade and a few more of the nakago and I will see what I can find out. What is the length of the blade?

[Mark]

blade is 26 3/8" it is scratched and as I said the mounts are beat up but it does have the double button release that you find on the better late '44 mounts. Here are some pictures, in one maybe you can see the lines of sunagashi running through the chogi (hard to photograph as the blade is in poor polish)

[cabowen]

Still haven't found anything about him but looking at the blade photos, I am fairly certain he has some connection to the Kato family.

[george trotter]

I can't find him either (so far), but I think that looking at the mounts style (good quality) and the WWII hadori polish, it matched the mounts and polish of a RJT sword of mine and another 2 I have seen.

Mine is by a Kyoto man Kunihide. Virtually only his name is known, but the polish and fittings match (see pic).

Also another Kyoto area RJT smith named Kunihisa (see pic).

Also there are blades by Nagamitsu when working as guntosho in Osaka that are mounted this way (see pic).

 

It may be nothing, but your sword seems to fit the mounting style of the Kansai region (Osaka-Kyoto etc).

Hope this helps,

[cabowen]

Mark-

 

After a lot of digging around, I found this oshigata of a gassaku sword made by Masakuni and his student, Kuniyoshi. I believe this sword has been signed by Kuniyoshi due to the rather crudely cut mei. Masakuni was an experienced smith and his mei shows much more skill. Thus, the first kanji looks pretty similar to the first kanji in the mei on your sword. I would speculate that Tanabe Kuniyoshi, using the mei Masamichi, may be the maker of this blade...

 

[george trotter]

This is a real teaser Chris.

As the nakago has the star stamp, the signer Masamichi must have been registered with RJT scheme under that Masamichi name?...it never occurred to me that maybe a RJT was permitted by RJT scheme to use more than one mei...do we have any examples?

From RJT records we should be able to find his Masamichi details, so I did look up Meikan, but no luck....if anyone has the RJT Meibo, please have a look. He should be listed in the RJT records surely?

BTW Chris, I don't know were the Hanazawa Tanrenjo was?...maybe they and their records were destroyed in the close of the war?

Regards,

[cabowen]

I think the RJT Meibo was published in 1943. I have come across several later star stamped blades, 1944 or after, by smiths unrecorded therein. My view is they joined the program late and are thus not listed. What really surprises me is that this smith is not listed as an entrant in either of the Army's contests, especially the second one which occurred in 1944 as I recall.

 

Many smiths used a different mei when making blades as part of the RJT program so I am wondering if this smith, originally signing Kuniyoshi, may have used a different mei for blades made as a RJT.

 

From the kanji used in the mei and the workmanship in the blade from the photos, I speculate that he was related in some way to the Kato group. I will have the blade in hand later today and will see if I can get any further.

 

Hanazawa Tanrenjo was in Tokyo; no records exist that I am aware of...

 

Puzzling indeed....