Shin gunto with older tsuba

[Marcel]

Hi,

 

This arrived this morning after I won it at an antique auction.
A late-war Shin gunto. The saya is made of wood and covered in leather. Unfortunately, the leather is in very poor condition and a large piece is missing.
A pleasant surprise, however, is the tsuba. I had seen in the auction house photos that it had a different type of tsuba, but those photos didn't show any details. I suspect the tsuba is older than the sword, perhaps a family heirloom?

Speaking of the sword itself, it was covered in a tough layer of old grease. Still quite sharp and in good condition.
It only has one original seppa, the others are leather plates.
The nakago has a showa mark. According to "leen" on this forum, the smith could have been Kanemichi, but I'd love to hear your opinion.

[mecox]

Not sure about the mounts but the  blade is Ishihara Kanenao KANENAO  ( “Kanenao” (兼直), real name Ishihara Kanenao (石原金直), uses old kanji "Nao" ,  born 1908/May  registered as Seki smith !939 October 27.   Showa stamp so early war. 

 

[Marcel]

Thanks, Mecox! It's great that there's so much expertise here!
I'm pleasantly surprised; I thought the blade, like the mount, would have been produced late in the war.

[Bruce Pennington]

Curious why you think the fittings are late war?  I have 26 of his blades on file, and 4 of them were in civil fittings refitted for the war.  It doesn't get talked about very often, but there were plenty of swords made during the war that were sold and fitted in the civilian market.  Then, they found their way into the war effort and had the military refit, in varying degrees.

 

I admit that haikan is really crude.  Is that what seems late war?

[Marcel]

38 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Curious why you think the fittings are late war?  I have 26 of his blades on file, and 4 of them were in civil fittings refitted for the war.  It doesn't get talked about very often, but there were plenty of swords made during the war that were sold and fitted in the civilian market.  Then, they found their way into the war effort and had the military refit, in varying degrees.

 

I admit that haikan is really crude.  Is that what seems late war?

Actually, it was the simple, undecorated kabuto-gane and fuchi combined with the leather-covered wooden saya. All of this made me think it was late war.

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes, several things together can point to war fittings.  Can’t see the kabutogane very well in your first photo. But if it’s plain, I certainly would agree with you.

 

With the earlier date of the blade, then, it might have spent most of the war in a civilian home and later donated to the war. Or it might simply have just been re-fitted at some point due to damage.

[Marcel]

Here is a better picture of the kabutogane.

[Kiipu]

@Spartancrest might be able to help with the identification of the tsuba.

[Marcel]

9 hours ago, Kiipu said:

@Spartancrest might be able to help with the identification of the tsuba.

Thanks Kiipu, I posted the question on the Tosogu forum.

[Bruce Pennington]

Oh, I see what you mean!  Thanks for the added photo.

[Marcel]

2 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Oh, I see what you mean!  Thanks for the added photo.

Your welcome

[Marcel]

On 9/23/2025 at 4:07 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Curious why you think the fittings are late war?  I have 26 of his blades on file, and 4 of them were in civil fittings refitted for the war.  It doesn't get talked about very often, but there were plenty of swords made during the war that were sold and fitted in the civilian market.  Then, they found their way into the war effort and had the military refit, in varying degrees.

 

I admit that haikan is really crude.  Is that what seems late war?

Hi Bruce, you wrote that this one might have been made initially for the civilian market. Could swords for the civilian market also have a Showa Arsenal mark, or could it have been stamped on later?

[Bruce Pennington]

5 hours ago, Marcel said:

Showa Arsenal mark,

The common mistake, perpetuated by years of collector folklore, is that the Showa stamp was an arsenal mark.  It was not.  It was the inspection mark of the civilian organization Seki Cutlery Industry Association (I've been saying "Manufacturers"; but Thomas has it as "Industry".  He's the language expert, so "Industry" it is!).  They were asked by sword shops/forges to start running inspections because "poor showato were hurting the industry's reputation."  These blades were made for both the civilian and military markets.  Yes, the massive majority were bought by the military, but many were sold to private shops.

[Marcel]

10 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

The common mistake, perpetuated by years of collector folklore, is that the Showa stamp was an arsenal mark.  It was not.  It was the inspection mark of the civilian organization Seki Cutlery Industry Association (I've been saying "Manufacturers"; but Thomas has it as "Industry".  He's the language expert, so "Industry" it is!).  They were asked by sword shops/forges to start running inspections because "poor showato were hurting the industry's reputation."  These blades were made for both the civilian and military markets.  Yes, the massive majority were bought by the military, but many were sold to private shops.

Thank you Bruce for your excellent explanation. My first book is on its way so I don't have to ask any more beginner questions here .

[Bruce Pennington]

45 minutes ago, Marcel said:

My first book is on its way so I don't have to ask any more beginner questions

Books and time.  It will come along.  Books won't help much with stamping, though.  If you don't have it already, download Stamps of the Japanese Sword, for the latest info.

[Marcel]

7 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Books and time.  It will come along.  Books won't help much with stamping, though.  If you don't have it already, download Stamps of the Japanese Sword, for the latest info.

Thanks again, I owe you one!

[Kiipu]

16 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

(I've been saying "Manufacturers"; but Thomas has it as "Industry".

 

Actually, kōgyō 工業 translates as industry.  However, the Seki guild blue labels with English text have it as manufacturers'.  The question then boils down to what translation do you want to use, the Seki blue label or the kanji dictionary translation.  Whatever translation you decide to use is fine by me.

関刃物工業組合 Seki Hamono Kōgyō Kumiai

 

See also Seki Inspection Tag On Combat Saya.

[Bruce Pennington]

Ok, thanks, Thomas.  I see it's one of those situations where more than one English word can be used for the Japanese word.  I'll leave the Stamps doc terminology as is, and use the terms interchangeably in discussions.