Help with identification please

[PipDunn92]

Hi all, so I've been going through my grandparents inheritance they left and I've found a sword.

 

I didn't think much of it until someone suggested that we look for an engraving of the sword maker.

 

This is what I found, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mecox]

Hello Pip, looks an interesting sword.  It is by Kinmichi (can also be read as Kanemichi) and he was a smith in WW2. 

Your signature (mei) reads his name "Hibino Kinmichi".

KINMICHI (金道), real name Hibino Ichiji (日比野一二),  born May 6th Taisho 6 (1917), he worked as guntō smith and died August 20th 1945 age 28.    He was a swordsmith in Gifu Prefecture, and registered as a Seki swordsmith in Showa 17 (1942) September 10.  He came from Kamo-gun district to the east of Seki, and Oyama in Tomida-mura (village). 

It is interesting when he died, as Japan officially surrendered on 15 August 1945 (in some cases there is a relationship).

The mounts are not military but civilian ("samurai style")  but looks like the kashira (pommel) has come off the tsuka (hilt)?    a bit hard to see in photo. 

The mei looks quite well cut .    Do you see any stamps on the hilt?

Here is another example of his work. (Stein JSI) 

At right another example, signed "Kinmichi"  and has a date when made, looks to be September, 1943 (Showa 18) (from Meirin Sangyo)

 

                                              

[PipDunn92]

So if it is a civilian sword would that mean a family gifted sword to someone going off to war? Compared to a military awarded sword or such?

Is Hibino Ichiji a prominent sword smith of the time? 

What sort of a value or importance would a sword like this have?

[mecox]

A bit hard to say as need to have better pics.  Can you take more detail of tsuka and fittings.   Also pics of the blade.

Considering his age he probably worked 1940 to 1945.   Maybe employed by a sword shop or an arsenal.  Most likely someone ordered a sword with these fittings. But not likely it went to war.   

Remember that soldiers had to buy their own swords, but certain civilians working with military could wear swords.  

Not likely he was "prominent" as no real records of training, and he does not appear to have entered any exhibitions/contests.   

It is probably a good example of its type but average. 

Cant comment on value without more pics.   Others may.

I added another example (1943) to previous post. 

 

ADDITION:   I forgot that there is other posts on Kinmichi.  Go to "Search" at top right on page and enter "Hibino"

[Bruce Pennington]

Pip,

We often see blades made during WWII in civilian fittings, then re-fitted in varying degrees for the military.  I've never read, anywhere, an explanation for this.  The options are speculative only.  But it's likely that civilians were buying swords throughout the war for their own reasons.  Then, the military/government comes out with a big public push for sword donations and the sword gets donated and/or sold to the military.  

 

Like you suggested, families would sometimes buy a sword for their son, and this could have come anywhere in the range of cheap, to average, to highly upgraded fittings.

 

These style swords sell on ebay roughly in the $1,000 USD range, plus or minus a couple hundred.

 

Final note, the cord on yours is from a sword bag.

 

PS: is that a small stamp above the signature, near or underneath the hand guard?  If so, it could give us a probable date range when it was made.

[PipDunn92]

Thank you all for the information. It's so interesting.

Im sorry for the photo quality, I've not got the best phone for pictures. So this very small mark is in the same side and the mei just up higher, and it's very small.

[mecox]

This is the SEKI stamp, from mid-war period, which indicates not fully traditionally made.

Example below shows it (from a May post, you can find by SEARCH):

 

              

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Pip,

Like Mal said, it is the larger Seki stamp, used by the civilian Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association, predominantly between 1942-1944, however a few are seen as early as 1941 and late as 1945. 

Blades with this stamp tend to be nice, quality blades with attractive hamon (temper line pattern).  Values would be as I stated above.