WW2 Gunto Mei translation - any help appreciated

[Historynut]

I found this Gunto at a garage sale and the history is vague. I believe it is a Type 94, but I could be incorrect. No translation software has been able to read the Kanji and most translators return "unknown". The Tsuba is brass and looks to be standard military issue. The temper line is very regular, so I believe it is an arsenal sword and not an older family blade. If more pictures are needed, I can add any requested.

 

Thank you

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi David,

Your sword appears to be a very good condition Army type 98. The signature is Yoshi-Tomi. On the opposite side is the date which appears to be: Sho-Wa Ju Hachi Nen Go Gatsu, the fifth month of 1943. The "wa" kanji is oddly written as is the "go" kanji, so I hope that I'm understanding the swordsmith's writing style. 

hope this helps, Tom

[Historynut]

Thank you. I admit I could not compare the characters to listed kanji. I am surprised it is a mid 43 as, from what research I have found, the brass tsuba would have been earlier. Perhaps the materials shortages were not hitting that hard by that time. The hilt is fairly worn, so it likely saw hard use before the end of the war as, other than kids touching it, it was not used once it came to the US. I forgot to include these earlier, but here is the tsuba and hilt.

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi David,

The fittings on your sword are very good quality, IJA swords had higher and lower quality no matter what the year of production, pierced tsuba vs solid etc. (They were purchased by the officer, so quality often came down to how much money the individual had to spend.) You are correct that things began to change by 1944.

Hopefully Bruce will chime in with more on the changes and other details that occurred towards the end of the war, he's way more knowledgeable with that than me.

Tom

 

[uwe]

Small correction: “義臣” (Yoshiomi).

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi Uwe, My reference book shows that kanji as "tomi" and there was a WW2 swordsmith with that signature listed as "Yoshi-Tomi". So I'm confused, is there an alternate pronunciation/spelling that I'm missing? Thanks, Tom

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi Uwe, I grabbed my copy of P.G. O'Neill's book on Japanese names, and he listed it as "tomi" as well. Its not a well known/used kanji, so is there a pronunciation rule I'm unaware of when used in conjunction with another kanji?  Call out to SteveM, Help!

Tom

[rebcannonshooter]

Hi Uwe and others,

I had a long drawn out back and forth with Google AI about what is the correct pronunciation of this swordsmith's name. According to AI this kanji has multiple valid readings: "its standard standalone reading is "Omi", but when used at the end of a male's given name it frequently takes the traditional reading of "Tomi". Both are linguistically plausible." However; according to "Seki Kaji Tosho", "Yoshi-omi" is the preferred pronunciation for this swordsmith. So Uwe, you are exactly right. Thanks for the correction, Tom 

[uwe]

Hi Thomas,

 

yes, this kanji can have several readings like “shin”, “onoko”, “tomi” or “omi”. In our case I think “omi” is the pronunciation to go with. 
BTW, there is indeed a smith “Yoshitomi” around  Bunka, but written “義富”…

[Bruce Pennington]

Sesko uses 'omi'

 

"YOSHIOMI (義臣), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshiomi” (義臣), real name Takeyama Kazuo (武山数男), born April 3rd 1910, he was the younger brother of Yoshinao (義尚) and worked as guntō smith, ryōkō no retsu (Akihide)"