Kevin Posted June 20, 2010 Report Posted June 20, 2010 I'd always understood that the sho stamp was discontinued in 1941-very early 1942. Which makes a shingunto signed by Kanetatsu (Tatsuo Kanemura) I picked up interesting. On the mei side of the nakago it has a sho stamp. However, on the other it has a very small Seki stamp (small enough to need a magnifying glass) and an inscription that dates it to Showa 20 nen 4 Gatsu i.e April 1945. Anyone else run across sho stamps later than 1941/42? Kevin Quote
outlier48 Posted June 21, 2010 Report Posted June 21, 2010 I'd always understood that the sho stamp was discontinued in 1941-very early 1942. Which makes a shingunto signed by Kanetatsu (Tatsuo Kanemura) I picked up interesting. On the mei side of the nakago it has a sho stamp. However, on the other it has a very small Seki stamp (small enough to need a magnifying glass) and an inscription that dates it to Showa 20 nen 4 Gatsu i.e April 1945. Kevin Kevin - I am curious where you learned that Showa-to stamps were discontinued by early 1942. I gleaned from "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths From 1868 to the Present" that in 1937 Japanese military authorities decided all non-tamahagane made swords were to be stamped to distinguish them from traditional swords. From 1940 through the end of the war this became mandatory. I think it may be possible to find a pre-1940 Showa-to without a stamp. Charlie Brashear Quote
drdata Posted June 21, 2010 Report Posted June 21, 2010 I had the same understanding, but after this post I noticed that ryujin's swords seems to imply that show stamps were phased out in favor of arsenal stamps in the date range indicated: "The Showa stamps were superseded in late 1941-early 1942 by the various arsenal marks. . . ." http://www.ryujinswords.com/shostamp.htm Quote
outlier48 Posted June 21, 2010 Report Posted June 21, 2010 Harry - thanks for the correction. Charlie Brashear Quote
Kevin Posted June 21, 2010 Author Report Posted June 21, 2010 Well, finally solved it. It's a Gifu or Chimata stamp. Looks like a sho stamp, but much smaller, which makes it difficult to read. Thanks to Bruno, John Stuart and George Trotter for their research and the info. :-D Kevin Quote
outlier48 Posted June 22, 2010 Report Posted June 22, 2010 Kevin, can you post some pics? Charlie Brashear Quote
Bruno Posted June 22, 2010 Report Posted June 22, 2010 Kevin, can you post some pics? Charlie Brashear Here is one close up: Quote
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