Please help me to identify the markings

[Barny Dots]

Hello everyone! I have two arsenal-made shin-gunto type 98. Could you please help me with identification and translation of the markings? I’m new to this topic and would really appreciate any help!

[Shugyosha]

Hi Barny,

The first one is Ishido Teruhide: https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/teruhide.htm

 

Edit: this one may not be an arsenal made blade as it has a better quality mei than most of the arsenal made gunto - does it have a stamp?

 

[Barny Dots]

No stamps on the blade but I've got such markings on tsuba

[Shugyosha]

I think that generally if the sword has no stamps, even if it is in military fittings, it will be considered a gendaito rather than a gunto but the the military swords guys might correct me on that - the commentary on Teruhide suggests that he was making swords for higher-ranked officers so, at any rate, it's probably something better than the normal arsenal made blade. If you want to post some pictures of the blade itself you might get some more information.

 

The marks on the seppa/ tsuba might be marks made to keep the parts together during assembly but may mean more than that @Bruce Pennington is your man for this. 

 

I've looked at the second one but I'm struggling with the second kanji of the name. It starts with 兼 "Kane" so the chances are he was working in Seki and the date is August in the 18th year of Showa so August 1943. No doubt someone else will chip in soon. 

[Barny Dots]

I've made some general view photos of these gunto. So photos 1-2 are the first one blade and 3 the second one 

[Bruce Pennington]

Hi Barry,

We'll need a really close shot of the blade showing hamon (temper line) and any details of the steel that are visible, to make a guess on whether it is traditionally made or not.  Lack of stamps opens up the possibility that a blade is traditionally made, but not a guarantee.  

 

Hopefully someone like @SteveM will help with the second smith name.  I know I've seen it, but cannot recall.

 

Edit: I think this guy - Kanetada - is your smith:

 

[Rawa]

5 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

I think that generally if the sword has no stamps, even if it is in military fittings, it will be considered a gendaito rather than a gunto but the the military swords guys might correct me on that - the commentary on Teruhide suggests that he was making swords for higher-ranked officers so, at any rate, it's probably something better than the normal arsenal made blade. If you want to post some pictures of the blade itself you might get some more information.

 

The marks on the seppa/ tsuba might be marks made to keep the parts together during assembly but may mean more than that @Bruce Pennington is your man for this. 

 

I've looked at the second one but I'm struggling with the second kanji of the name. It starts with 兼 "Kane" so the chances are he was working in Seki and the date is August in the 18th year of Showa so August 1943. No doubt someone else will chip in soon. 

As this can confuse new guys Im posting link to differentiate gunto/gendaito/showato. Gunto is more wide term...

https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/showato.htm

So all swords in military mounts we should qualify as gunto. Meaningless what we find on nakago. As second step we can ofcourse look for date as blade could be just mounted after war in gunto koshirae.

[Barny Dots]

I will do more photos of the blade tomorrow because weapons are now in the museum storage. Thanks everyone with the help in smiths identification. 

[SteveM]

兼綱 Kanetsuna

[Bruce Pennington]

Bingo, Thanks Steve!

 

From JSI:

Ikeda Kanetsuna - Japaneseswordindex.com

[Barny Dots]

Some photos of the hamon if I made this right. The sword was gained as a trophy in China. 

[Barny Dots]

[Bruce Pennington]

Nice hamon, Barny!  It's possible it was traditionally made.  The old wartime polish and wear make it hard to see the fine details, though.  I bet it would be quite stunning in a full polish.

[ROKUJURO]

Polish may even be o.k. but the photos are out of focus.

[Barny Dots]

Yeah, focus was the biggest problem. We couldn’t get it right even with a professional camera. Maybe the lighting in our workshop is to blame. I’ll make sure to give special thanks to all of you at the opening of our new museum exhibition for helping with the identification of these swords.

[Shugyosha]

Hi Barny,

You could try a darkened room with a small single point of light for detail shots. If you move the blade around in the light you should be able to show up various features of the hamon and activity in the ji. Try to avoid resting the point on a hard surface though as it may do some damage (to the sword or the surface).

[Barny Dots]

I apologize for such a long delay. I am attaching clearer photos of the blade’s hamon. We were waiting for our professional photographer to become available.