ARMY MOUNT ARMY MOUNT 27 3/8" KANEHIRO ?

[Dogditcher]

Listed as ARMY MOUNT ARMY MOUNT 27 3/8" KANEHIRO*

My observations

Nice Flowing Hamon

Seki Stamp Large ?

As always Translation and any information is appreciated

                          Enjoy-Thanks Steve

* When i put listed as -that is what is in the journal it probably not
 spelled correctly but written as what was heard*

 

 

 

 

[Dogditcher]

[ROKUJURO]

Looks like KANETAKA to me. HAMACHI is damaged. Blade seems to be oil quenched.
Photos could be improved with a plain dark background.

[Geraint]

Dear Steve.

 

Look up Matsuda Kanetaka.  I have one by him and like it a lot.

 

All the best.

[Dogditcher]

Thanks-found this on a military site -seems the same

 

"The blade on this example was hand forged, and the tang of the blade is signed (Mei) with the characters 濃 州 松 田 兼 高 作, which is read as NOSHU JU MATSUDA KANETAKA SAKU. This roughly translates to "made by Kanetaka Matsuda in Mino Province". Research indicates that smith's real name was 松田 高市 - Matsuda Takaichi, so in this case Takaichi is their given name, while Kanetaka is their "swordsmith" name. Their name appears in the Seki Tanrensho Booklet printed in 1939. Kaneaki was active during the Showa Period and worked at Seki arsenal in Gifu, Mino Province (美濃国), who stamped the blade with the 関 (Seki) mark. They look to have made both arsenal forged and traditional blades. We have confirmed the signature (Oshigata) with other examples of his work."

[ROKUJURO]

31 minutes ago, Dogditcher said:

........ We have confirmed the signature (Oshigata) with other examples of his work."

Seems they mixed up the terminology. The signature is MEI, and OSHIGATA is a drawing of the life-size blade with its HATARAKI.

[Brian]

This is an arsenal made "Showato" and not hand forged, definitely oil quenched. But genuine of course.

[Mister Gunto]

Nice clean condition and legit WW2-era Showato blade, a bit longer than most of the era. Most are in the 24-26 inch range. 

 

Looks like a surrender label on the saya. Probably the officer's name and hometown post office address. He was hoping we'd mail his sword back to him. Obviously wasn't going to happen, but an indication that he was very proud of his sword. 

[mecox]

Matsuda Kanetaka was an early wartime smith in Seki, born 1911 and registered 1939 October.

See info in paper on Swordsmiths in Gifu 1939 in NMB Downloads (link at top of page under Downloads, Members Articles)

[Dogditcher]

10 hours ago, mecox said:

Matsuda Kanetaka was an early wartime smith in Seki, born 1911 and registered 1939 October.

See info in paper on Swordsmiths in Gifu 1939 in NMB Downloads (link at top of page under Downloads, Members Articles)

Thank You -So much information-makes my head spin