Unidentified markings on Kabuto-gane

[PeterCollector]

Hello,

 

dear friends, today I decidet to inspect one of my Shin Gunto sword, which was made by Kojima Kotsumasa. Sword was made in January 1944. If I am corred, sword also have Nagoya stamps on blade tang and other marking which isl similar to "axe" or I don´t know how to name it on tsuba and each seppa. But what is most interesting for me are two markings on Kabuto, I find two markings on Kabuto-gane, which looks like star stam and other symbol which I can´t identify. Please can anybody help me with markings on Kabuto-gane and maybe marking on tsuba and seppa?

 

Thank you for your time and help.

 

Beest regards 

 

Peter 

[Bruce Pennington]

Peter,

The star on your kabutogane is the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal, but the other stamp is an unidentified shop logo.  Here's a more clear photo of another with that stamp:

 

Haven't seen that small stamp before on your tsuba/seppa, so it's unknown too.

 

Can we get photos of the nakago mei and date for the files?  I don't have that one listed in the survey.

[PeterCollector]

Hello Bruce,

 

thank you for your quick response and also for identifiing these markings. I never saw them on any other my sword. Here is link, where are photos of nakago - I was also lost with translation so I asked experts for help  

 

Best regards

 

Peter 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Thank you Peter!  The stamps on the kabutogane are not common.  I've only see a few like this, and there seem to be only 2 or 3 shops that did it.

[PeterCollector]

Hello Bruce,

 

thank you for your lesson! It is nice to know that my sword has harkings which are not common. I´m just a begginer with Shin gunto swords collecting so help from advanced collector is welcome!

 

Best regards

 

Peter

[Bugyotsuji]

I think the ’axe’ marks are locator signs to help align the seppa to the Tsuba. 中 perhaps?

 

On the nakago we can see 名(Na) probably standing for 名古屋 (Nagoya).

[PeterCollector]

Hello Piers,

 

thank you for your comment. I think you are correct with seppa and tsuba symbol "中" - it is exactly what is on all parts. When I returned home I can take some photos with USB microscope and send them to forum. Please can you translate symbol "中" it is Japanese letter? Or it is udentified symbol?

 

Thank you again for your comment.

 

Best regards

 

Peter

[Bugyotsuji]

Peter, 中 (naka/chu) just means 'middle' or 'between' or 'inside' or 'during', etc. I guess it could also mean sticking them all on a skewer, like 串 kushi for a shish kebab.

[PeterCollector]

Piers, many thanks with translating this symbol! I think it is logic marking and make sense.

 

Best regards

 

Peter

[Bruce Pennington]

@PeterCollector - Peter, you mentioned the other fittings had that same 中 (naka/chu) stamp.  Could we get some pics?  Trying to chase down the sword shop.

[Kiipu]

It will not be possible to identify what this marking means unless one can find an old advertisement that depicts it.  The character itself can mean center, middle, medium or inside, interior, midway.  As one can see, it is a fairly generic character all by itself.  It is unlikely to be a logo without some other design element around it.

[PeterCollector]

Hello Bruce, 

 

here are better closeup photos of seppa and tsuba. Right now I´m not at home, so I can´t do a better pictures

 

Kind regards

 

Peter

19 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

@PeterCollector - Peter, you mentioned the other fittings had that same 中 (naka/chu) stamp.  Could we get some pics?  Trying to chase down the sword shop.

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Peter!  Got the Pros looking into possible shops with that kanji in their name, but we probably won't narrow it down.  It's surprising, to me, the large number of shops that were making this stuff during the war, many located in the same city/area and many with similarities in names.