... little help from my friends ...

Bruce Pennington · July 29

Think that was a line from a Beatle's song

Having trouble with this one. Can someone ID this guy for me? Thanks.

1942, but who?

image_6231793.jpg.b3b6c0a600f9aabee9be15b20fda074d.jpg

Bugyotsuji · July 29

Showa 17, with tag by some top graffiti artist!

Kiipu · July 29

Kane 兼 and then something. Pretty sure it is a Seki smith.

兼？

昭和十七年 = 1942.

Kiipu · Tuesday at 07:47 PM

Maybe Kanefusa 兼房? Alas, there are at least seven swordsmiths using that mei.

Bruce Pennington · Tuesday at 08:36 PM

It's one of the worst mei I've ever seen.

Other ideas:

菊秀 (Kikuhide)

藤房 (Katsufusa

@SteveM - stop hiding, buddy!

mecox · Tuesday at 11:39 PM

Could be Kanehide 兼秀　?

Kiipu · Tuesday at 11:50 PM

Kaneuji 兼氏 used the same style Kane but the second character differs.

Military Sword with Shark skin Saya ?

SteveM · Wednesday at 01:01 AM

Kane-something, but no idea what that something is.

The Blacksmith · Wednesday at 10:05 AM

I wondered if it might even be a very poorly written Nao?

Bruce Pennington · Wednesday at 02:32 PM

Thought I'd try a hand-written kanji I.D. page I got a while back from Guy Powers over on Warrelics. It recommended "hisa"

Kanji.sljfaq.org

So, Kanehisa? 兼久 (Kanehisa)

Bruce Pennington · Wednesday at 05:39 PM

Guy, Wehrmacht-awards, pointed out I missed the vertical stroke on the left side, so updated stroke on the website, it's first recommendation was "naga", so Kanenaga

Kiipu · Wednesday at 07:34 PM

Do you have any other pictures of the sword?

John C · Wednesday at 09:46 PM

On 7/29/2025 at 1:36 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

It's one of the worst mei I've ever seen.

Bruce:

Kanenami???

The nami character of this mei looks similar.

John C.

Toryu2020 · Wednesday at 10:59 PM

How about Kanesumi - 兼住?

Kiipu · Thursday at 12:57 AM

I have been discussing this with Akira over at WRF and Edokko over at GBF. Akira mentioned this mei came up for discussion over at WAF and the owner stated it was from Kanesumi 兼住. Edokko found an example of a sōshotai 草書体 of 住 that is similar that I will attach below.

The jury is still out though as the stylized character has elements of several others. Hopefully down the road another blade will surface to assist in identification.

Kiipu · Thursday at 03:07 AM

There seems to have been two swordsmiths that used the name of Kanesumi 兼住. Form Sesko's Gendaitō web page comes the following. Of these two, Satō is the most common.
Kanesumi 兼住, Satō.
Kanesumi 兼住, Sakō.

Below are some examples of Kanesumi 兼住 mei that may be of possible interest.

1. Almost there... Note top right corner.
2. New Pick Up Note the partial loop.
3. kane......something Note the partial loop.

Bruce Pennington · Thursday at 02:07 PM

18 hours ago, Kiipu said:

Do you have any other pictures of the sword?

Shin Gunto? - Wehrmacht-awards

Kiipu · Thursday at 06:51 PM

Is that picture coming from a book?

I found a Kanesumi with similar fittings but the tang pictures are unreadable? It has the same white painted numbers as the one above.

WWII Era Japanese Kanesumi Sword

See Slough, page 66, and look at the profile of the bottom of the Kanesumi tang.

Markus · Thursday at 10:12 PM

I also tend towards Kanezumi (兼住). Have to admit, when I first saw the signature, I had a hunch towards Kanekaze (兼風) as there is a very similar cursive way to write the KAZE character. However, I don't have a WWII era Kanekaze smith in my records, only later knife makers using that name. There is always the possibility of rare (Kanekaze) knife/blacksmiths making some swords at that time as that did happen, but, Occam's razor, I tend towards Kanezumi.