Conway Posted March 11 Report Posted March 11 10 hours ago, BANGBANGSAN said: Also note the term 「調製」 in the advertisement, which represents “Adjusting”. Trystan, do you interpret the advertisement to mean that they can mount (blades) as command swords or gunto? Or that they manufacture command swords and gunto? Otherwise, what’s considered an adjustment? Quote
John C Posted April 1 Report Posted April 1 @Bruce Pennington Bruce: Not sure what to make of this mark/stamp. Maybe it's just a partial. On a sword with what looks like a souvenir tsuka and navy tsuba/seppa. https://www.ebay.com/itm/127778985142? John C. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 1 Report Posted April 1 38 minutes ago, John C said: mark/stamp. John, It's a messy, and made worse by the photo, small circled anchor. Excuse my horrid editing: Another one of those mystery rigs. Is the paint "3"? or is there a faded "1" on top, so "13"? For now, I'll call it a "3" which puts it (along with the black ito and 1-piece fuchi/seppa) into the first run souvenir swords using mostly surplus parts. Toyosuke, for the record. 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 3 Report Posted April 3 March 2026 Update now available for the Stamps of the Japanese Sword. Download here: Stamps of the Japanese Sword - NMB Download Section What's new: -- Navy Tsuba with "Gunto Houkoku" "Serve the Country with Military Swords". It was the slogan of the government program to procure civilian swords for the war effort. -- Stamped mei - Kanemune -- Kikumon - new variant added in this section lacking better way to classify it - Botan/Peony Flower on a 26th Generation Kanenori. Significance unknown -- Kokuin - Kiyonobu and Kanenori added -- Kakihan - 4 added: Enshin, 1905; Masatsugu; Sukenao, 1696; Yukihide, 1853 -- Blades with both Kakihan & Kokuin - Naotane, used personal kakihan + kokuin of city the blade was made in -- Appraisors - Ho' nami Kotoku added -- Koshirae stamps - Itabashi Supervisory Unit, Army Ordinance Admin HQ -- Unknowns - Circled Yama; Circled kana -- Type 19 shop logo - 2 added. Enjoy 1 3 Quote
Rawa Posted April 10 Report Posted April 10 (edited) On 4/3/2026 at 4:05 PM, Bruce Pennington said: March 2026 Update now available for the Stamps of the Japanese Sword. Download here: Stamps of the Japanese Sword - NMB Download Section What's new: -- Navy Tsuba with "Gunto Houkoku" "Serve the Country with Military Swords". It was the slogan of the government program to procure civilian swords for the war effort. -- Stamped mei - Kanemune -- Kikumon - new variant added in this section lacking better way to classify it - Botan/Peony Flower on a 26th Generation Kanenori. Significance unknown -- Kokuin - Kiyonobu and Kanenori added -- Kakihan - 4 added: Enshin, 1905; Masatsugu; Sukenao, 1696; Yukihide, 1853 -- Blades with both Kakihan & Kokuin - Naotane, used personal kakihan + kokuin of city the blade was made in -- Appraisors - Ho' nami Kotoku added -- Koshirae stamps - Itabashi Supervisory Unit, Army Ordinance Admin HQ -- Unknowns - Circled Yama; Circled kana -- Type 19 shop logo - 2 added. Enjoy I'm pinging you way to much but it happened I found Nagamitsu with probably arsenal number 147 cheers! Rs mounting and certified as "Bizen emura school" Watch out photos are shiny https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/102632499-katana-Japan Edited April 10 by Rawa 1 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 11 Report Posted April 11 5 hours ago, Rawa said: I'm pinging you way to much but it happened I found Nagamitsu with probably arsenal number 147 cheers! Rs mounting and certified as "Bizen emura school" Watch out photos are shiny Ha, I needed a thumbs up and an laugh emoji for that! Marcin - there is no such thing as pinging me too much, brother. That's the first Nagamitsu with stamped numbers I've seen in quite a while. I appreciate it greatly. It is an interesting one, because the next earlier one, in fact the earliest Nagamitsu with stamped number on mune, is 阪イ143. In fact, the great majority of numbered Nagamitsu have at least a 阪. There were only (before this) 3 on file without such stamps - 695, 2005, and 3973: ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪イ143 on mune Volker, NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪イ0313 on mune Ooitame; NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 695 on mune Spidersrule123,NMB,RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪1431 Cillo, pg 124 ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪1853 on mune Smallsword, ebay RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪1867 on mune Rancho, NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪1884 mune Austin Auction Gallery RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 2005 on mune Reeder, NMB ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪2201 on mune Zaia86, NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 阪2205 on mune Roromush, NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu, Ichihara Ichiryushi 阪イ2511 on mune Bangbangsan, NMB, RS ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 1阪3490 on mune Vajo; NMB ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 3973 on mune IJASWORDS, NMB broken heart seppa ND Nagamitsu (RJT) 1阪3991 on mune mauser99; NMB 1 Quote
Rawa Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 Seki stamped Kanehisa with kokuin stamp. Mei is clumsy. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ww2-period-imperial-Japanese-shin-gunto-sword-f989fb7436 1 Quote
Rawa Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 Minamoto Morinobu RJT star stamped and numbered 34, additional marks at mune. Same as in Slough's Oshigata book. https://japanesesword.com/archived-pages/2017/8/5/morinobu-katanaoshigata-used-in-sloughs-book-of-showa-smiths Quote
Scogg Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 1 hour ago, Rawa said: Seki stamped Kanehisa with kokuin stamp. Mei is clumsy. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ww2-period-imperial-Japanese-shin-gunto-sword-f989fb7436 For comparison. I once owned a blade signed Osawa Kanehisa with seki stamp and kokuin. I sold it a couple years ago, but I always thought it was a relatively well made showato. -Sam 2 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 Thanks guys! Good additions to the files. Especially that Morinobu. Actual blade to add to the file with the Slough reference. 1 1 Quote
Rawa Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 (edited) 2 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said: Thanks guys! Good additions to the files. Especially that Morinobu. Actual blade to add to the file with the Slough reference. Oh If You like to gather blades mentioned in Slough here You go: http://www.nihonto.us/TSUGUMASA GENDAI DS.htm and we had Moritsugu Norisada posted by @Sutraken in for sale tab also same as in Slough. [ex ericowazamono piece and He also adv. it as exact same blade from Slough] maybe Stefan could drop some pictures. Edited April 16 by Rawa Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 15 minutes ago, Rawa said: blades mentioned in Slough Sorry, I should have said blades with stamps mentioned in Slough. I only track stamped blades. Thanks though. Quote
Rawa Posted April 16 Report Posted April 16 No problem ;] here You go stamp on dirk. https://www.ebay.com/itm/318153414923?itmmeta=01KPBN5YZK6P5XB0DJ91W25ST6&hash=item4a136bd90b:g:Lz0AAeSwwatp33-K 1 Quote
Rawa Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/229587712_antique-18th-c-massive-extremely-rare-Japanese-rifle-cannon-signed-carrollton-tx Stamp at cannon. Offer states 18th century but maybe @Bugyotsujiwould verify. I would go for younger production more like end of 19c. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 Yes, stamps on other weapons are multitudinous. If they came with the shop's name, that would be a great reference for our unknown stamps on blades. Quote
Rawa Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 (edited) 49 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said: Yes, stamps on other weapons are multitudinous. If they came with the shop's name, that would be a great reference for our unknown stamps on blades. This example isn't just with bare stamp. But I need expert in this area. Edited April 25 by Rawa Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted April 25 Report Posted April 25 It could be 18th c but as you say more likely 19th, although there are couple of indications of age. Is that old-looking pan cover/lid original, for example? Hizen no Kami is decorative and probably added later, post Edo. In the blue box the remains of the nationwide Jinshin registration of 1872. A Mei under the barrel would tell us more. 1 Quote
Conserved123 Posted April 30 Report Posted April 30 On 8/9/2021 at 8:17 AM, Bruce Pennington said: Hi @Bruce Pennington What book was this page taken out of? Any idea how I could get a copy? Thanks! After reading a link posted by @Kiipu on Warrelics, I thought I'd post this here (it's on the Mantetsu Survey thread). @IJASWORDS gave us this copy of a letter explaining the gathering of blades by the army. The author claims that Seki blades sold to the military were gathered in a warehouse and stamped with either the Showa or Anchor. It's significant, because if accurate, it makes the Showa stamp an Army stamp, not a civil stamp. Thoughts? Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted April 30 Report Posted April 30 Luke, I tried finding the Warrelics post this came from, but couldn't. Maybe Thomas - @Kiipu - or @IJASWORDS = can help you. While the letter from the polisher had some interesting insight to wartime blade production, he wasn't correct about the source of the Showa stamp. My thought is that, as a polisher, he simply saw blades at the arsenal with the Showa and anchor stamps and assumed they were put there by arsenal inspectors. We now know, from a wartime magazine article, that the Showa stamp was an inspector of the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. Thomas, he's referencing this post: 1 Quote
Kiipu Posted April 30 Report Posted April 30 13 hours ago, Conserved123 said: What book was this page taken out of? I downloaded my copy via the link below. According to Bruce, it was a JSSUS article. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey 2 Quote
Rawa Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 Ishido Teruhide - Ishido Mitsunobu numbered "751"- non-traditional? Kai-gunto. @Bruce Penningtondo blade signed mitsunobu used to have "showa" stamp?; I don't see clearly in this photo and article states mitsunobu mei means showa-to. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/231250379_ishido-teruhide-signed-type-97-officer-kai-gunto-tallahassee-fl Mei type "E" - Mitsunobu with Kao, blade is in bad shape. https://japaneseswordindex.com/teruhide.htm 1 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted May 4 Report Posted May 4 1 hour ago, Rawa said: do blade signed mitsunobu used to have "showa" stamp? Thanks Marcin. I only had 3 other Teruhide on file, and none of them showed the mune, so I don't know if they were numbered. I have 13 Mitsunobu - 6 with mune numbers, 7 with star stamp. None of them are Showa or large Seki stamped. Interesting that the "751" of this Teruhide fall into the line-up of the Mitsunobu numbers of "707" and "776" on file. Japaneseswordindex cites the theory that his Teruhide mei represented traditionally made while Mitsunobo is found on non-traditional. It would take a thorough examination to try to pin that down. I doubt my file photos would suffice. 1 Quote
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