Translation assistance please!

[Morste43]

[nulldevice]

Looks like 蘭

 

http://ohmura-study.net this site usually has good information and has a long section on naval dirks that might be of help. 

[Bruce Pennington]

13 hours ago, nulldevice said:

Looks like 蘭

But what is that?

Anyone?

[Shugyosha]

Not sure this will be of any help in the context of a naval dirk, but: https://jisho.org/search/蘭

[John C]

I mentioned in a previous post it is the word Lan (orchid). I wonder if it has anything to do with the Japanese occupation of the Dutch east indies or just an abbreviation for a company name?

 

John C.

[Morste43]

Has anyone seen 蘭 used as a maker's mark, retailer's mark, or inspection stamp on a Japanese police, government, or colonial dirk?"Has anyone seen 蘭 used as a maker's mark, retailer's mark, or inspection stamp on a Japanese police, government, or colonial dirk?

[Shugyosha]

1 hour ago, John C said:

I mentioned in a previous post it is the word Lan (orchid). I wonder if it has anything to do with the Japanese occupation of the Dutch east indies or just an abbreviation for a company name?

 

John C.

 

It crops up in a couple of Chinese place names too, so perhaps something related to the occupation? Another guess though.

[Bugyotsuji]

Just a feeling but I kind of agree, e.g. from John’s link above:

[Bruce Pennington]

What does the rest of the Dirk look like? The wire wrap around the handle does not look standard.

 

this is how a standard Japanese Navy Dirk would look.