mecox

Done on 21 October

@garbage finds Jeff, he was an early wartime smith: 兼丈 Kanetake (福田 丈太郎 Fukuda Jotaro) (can read “Taketaro”) [kanji is not “fumi” 文] Born: Meiji 43 (1910) May 10; Registered as a Seki smith Showa 14 (1939) October 26. In 1937 lived at Seki-machi, Otsu 1754; 1939: Seki-machi, Misono-cho. History: living in Seki-machi and trained under Matsuda Kanetaka who had early trained under Kojima Kanemichi (then as Kanetoki) probably in the Nipponto Tanren Juko. Summary: died in 1989 age 79. He made numerous swords for both Arrny and Navy. Example mei: Fukuda Kanetake saku 福田兼丈作 Seki ju Fukuda Kanetake saku 関住福田兼丈作 Noshu Seki ju Kanetake saku 濃州 関住兼丈作 Below: yours has SEKI stamp, Gendai Swordsmiths Index, Fuller & Gregory has SHO stamp

Mei is Kaneuji, smith is Yoshida Kaneuji. Not sure of date it is years of Japanese Empire, maybe 2601 which is 1941 ( but rusted). Yours has SHO stamp Slough has an example with SEKI stamp dated June 1942 and kokuin. Not sure if your mounts are Type 94 but Type 98

Mark, thats rather strange, dont follow it, including the start of another hole. Hard to believe its original like that.

@Mark C can you show / describe the koshirae to see where the hole fits.

Yes looks like Kaga features, could it be shinto Kiyomitsu school?

Yes Muneshige, looks like wakizashi in old koshirae. Tsuba mei probably Kazutoshi. Be good to see full pics.

KANEHIRA (包平) , real name Gotō Eiji (後藤栄治), from Seki, born December 26th 1916 and registered as a Seki smith on Showa 14 (1939) October 26. . He was a student of Amachi Suzuichi (天地鈴市) who also called Amaike Masatsune (born 1894). In 1942 Banzuke list as joko no retsu.

@Slaborde Sara, glad its helpful as members have put some time into it. Of course its always appreciated if folk can make a donation to support costs of running NMB (e.g. big software licence, massive stored database etc). Easy to do at top of page "Donations". Cheers.

@Slaborde Sara below is an edited version of your summary hopefully suited to your family history. I cannot offer further to what has been provided. SWORDSMITH KANEYOSHI His swordsmith “art” name is 兼義 Kaneyoshi. His family name is 岡田 Okada and his given name is 武 Takeshi. He was born in the town of Seki in Gifu Prefecture in Meiji 42 (1909) on October 30. From when he was young, around age 14 in 1923 (Taisho 12) he began training in the making of agricultural tools under his uncle who was a qualified blacksmith toolmaker. They likely experimented with making swords at that time, as they made edged farm tools. He later went to Oshu (now called Fukushima Prefecture) in northern Honshu, to train further as a blacksmith, after which he returned to Seki to train as a swordsmith in traditional methods in the tanrenjo forge. He looks to have completed his apprenticeship in 1933 and was then making swords. A 1937 official survey notes he had trained under Niwa Kanematsu Kanenobu (兼信 丹羽 兼松) who was born in 1874 and worked in Kamo-gun in Gifu Prefecture. Kanenobu was an experienced swordsmith who died in 1941 age 67. From around 1935 he took on his older brother 兼定 Kanesada (岡田 定男 Okada Sadao) as a deshi (apprenice); he was born in 1905. The 1937 report notes that at that time Kaneyoshi had his own forge at Otsu in Seki but then did not have an apprentice. In 1939 (Showa 14) on October 20 Kaneyoshi registered as a swordsmith in Seki City and at that time had moved to Yoshida-cho in Seki. He then focused on training new tosho (swordsmiths). Noted students of his were: Okada Kanesada (brother), Ikeda Kanetsuna, Takai Sadatsugu and Isaji Kanehiro. Kaneyoshi became a promoter of traditional sword-making by koshiki tantren (the old style of forging, emphasizing traditional methods and materials). He was then working in the Seki Token Kaisha (company) and was head of the tanren-bu forging section. Later he became a full time employee of Noshu Nipponto Tanrenjo Kabushi Kaisha (share holders). In 1942 he was recorded to be living at Seki-machi, Ikuta-cho. He was well trained in traditional methods and considered to be a well above average swordsmith. During the war he largely produced well made “showa-to” non-traditional blades as required but also some custom traditional Nihonto. As with many swordsmiths he entered Sword Exhibitions, which were judged competitions in which swordsmiths were ranked. 1939: At the 4th Shinsakuto Exhibition his first submission won Kinpai (Gold Medal) 1941: At the 6th Shinsakuto Exhibition there were 250 blades evaluated. He was ranked 4th level of 5 (Chu Jo Saku) (superior medium level) 1942: Tosho Banzuke (national ranking of 400 swordsmiths) 5th level of 7 (Chu Saku) (medium level) 1943: At the 1st Rikugun Gunto Tenran Kai Exhibition run by the Army; 300 blades were submitted. He won Chairman’s Award (Kaicho-sho). Post-war swordmaking was permitted from 1954 and Kaneyoshi registered as a swordsmith on October 12, 1971 at age 62. However, he died on March 15, 1972 only five months later. Based on material in “Nihonto Message Board” and “Japanese Swordsmiths in Gifu 1937, Malcolm Cox, 2021”.

John here are some Kanehide both war & post-war links, you may or not have: Core Tokyo Web Japan Sword Japan Sword Sword Noshu Sumi Kanehide (with saber) Showa 20th New Year|Japan Sword Sword Sales E-Sword [e-sword] Sword inscription Noshu Sumitomo Kanesaku June day of Showa 61 Kanehide August | https://isao-machii.org/2017/09/29/兼秀　昭和十八年八月 Sword Noshu Sumikane Hidesaku Showa 46th February auspicious day | KANEHIDE, NAKATA – Yakiba.com 刀剣小町　刀　銘 : 濃州関兼秀作　昭和十七年十月吉日　拵入　(Katana、 Noshu Seki Kanehide saku Showa 17 October day) katana signed Noshu-ju KANEHIDE-saku In the 6th month, the 61th year of Showa －　濃州住兼秀作 昭和四十七年仲秋 Noushuju Kanehide　－　日本刀の通信販売　明倫産業株式会社 - Noushuju Kanehide - Mail order of Japan swords Meiren Sangyo Co., Ltd. Yahoo! Auction - [Change] Gifu Prefecture Important Unmarked Cultural Property Kaneshu Showa 19th Year ... Yahoo! Auction - [Yu] Gifu Prefecture Important Intangible Cultural Property Noshu Sumi Kanehide 2 shaku 4 ...

Read quickly and was well off with Fujiwara Kanemitsu.......Ganko has it with Inshu Kanesaki

@John C @Bruce Pennington John we often see over a 10 year period (1935-1945) that certain smiths mei form and style can change quite a bit, and this seems often the case in Seki/Gifu. These include things like wording of mei, is it katana-mei or tachi-mei, style of cutting some kanji, does yasurime change, and is there any relation (or not) to stamps. This also relates to evolution of their career (e.g. ranking, if RJT, retained as "exclusive" tosho). Certain factors look to be relevant: # who paid for the blade or where sold (e.g. shop, shop custom, individual, officers club). # where was smith working/employed when made (e.g. individual forge, group forge, production workshop, or arsenal). # was blade made for an exhibition or was a donation / dedication (mostly in shirasaya). # the above factors also influence whether blade is Showato, "semi-traditional" or traditionally made Nihonto and what iron/steel was used.

I dont think you can assume a month, and so just list under the year, and if date is "Koki ni sen roku hyaku nen" then it is 2600 years (1940).

@John C John, here's some notes on "Empire" dates and months. Also in my paper in NMB Downloads of Taguchi Masatsugu (Hizen/Saga) at end are numerous examples he uses in this form.