Bruce Pennington

That’s interesting, John! I have never seen mon before with geometric shapes like this. Do you think they are stylized kanji or just geometric shapes?

Kanemune.

Connor, Don't be bothered by the fact that the signature is gimei. It was a well known practice as long as they were making swords. Samurai, as well as Shoguns, have been known to treasure a sword while knowing it was gimei. As for your fittings. This sword could have been brought to the war by it's owner, refitted with the wooden saya (scabbard) for the field. It would have been covered by a leather cover. They are often lost over the years. Many were donated, or bought up by the military in drives to meet demands of the war effort, then refitted in varying degrees and sold to new officers. Yours looks to have kept the civilian tsuka (handle). Cannot tell if the tsuba (hand guard) was kept or a military one put in its place. You can see an example of how it might have looked: They were also refitted fully with military hardware: There are ways to restore your sword and make it look nice, or you can keep it as is. Either way, please read up on how to take care of it: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com

The stamp was used by the civilian Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association between 1940 and 1945. The massive majority of dated blades with the stamp were made ‘42.

Justin, Can you show me a clear photograph of that small stamp above the signature? It will give us a date range.

Nick, Other than the second ana, this one is a really good example of a standard WWII officer sword. The large Seki stamp puts the date between 1940 - 1945 with the most likely date of 1942.

Anybody make out the Buddhist bonji? If so, and forgive me for opining as this is WAY out of my ballpark, but this doesn't look like faker work. At the least Edo/Meiji tourist piece. Never seen a faker carve in utsuri saya, and nakago looks too good for the fakers.

Daniel, Do you know the background on this sword? The blade looks like it was made for a Rinji seishiki model (Type 3; Type 100; Type 44; etc) and the fittings would look like this: If you decide to keep it in that Type 98 saya, I'd at least try to find a Type 3 tsuka (handle) for it. It would be a mis-match, but I have seen many gunto like that over the years. I found the missing parts for my dad's Mantetsu, but it took me 2 or 3 years. You can find parts for sale on ebay and other aution houses (Proxidbid and Invaluable show sales from a variety of auction houses)

Nice one posted by @BANGBANGSAN here: Made in the last month of the war, Aug '45, so pretty pristine:

Chris, Safe to assume there is no date on the other side?

It is a legit type 95. I wish they could all be rescued. If I had the money, I would do it, but if it is not your thing, like everyone said there are nice ones to be found out there. You’ll probably pay more money though.

Mon? Or mei?

Looks real Nick. Where is it, an antique store or pawn shop? Just curious.

Another nice example posted by @Nicholas HERE

Linking this one, John

Looked like, maybe, Nagamitsu?

Adding a link to Mal Cox' post showing a makers kokuin on the outside of a leather saya cover:

No, not a FB member. Thanks for posting it. Quite unique. Wonder if it was a single guy, Kiyomatsu, that made saya/fittings or was it a shop name? Both probably.

They also got the "spring" wrong, though they had it right, "autumn" at the top.

That would be an awesome book, Marcin! I'm just trying to imagine - All of Mal's articles on WWII smiths; the Mantetsu article; the Souvenir Article; Sam's Type 95 article; hopefully a Type 25 article from John. I'd have to check with Akira Komiya, and Nick's wife, but it would be great to include Nick's sword articles. Don't know if the Stamps doc would be too big to add. Hmmm .....

Marcin, Great find! At 21.5" it is a waki, and clearly made that way. That is now the 4th Mantetsu waki I have on file. Interestingly, they are all close together (not literally in a row, but close): 1939 O4 Spring 1940 O166 Autumn 1940 Wa33 Autumn 1940 Wa 73 Autumn @Kiipu @BANGBANGSAN Photos from the links, for when they go dead

Marcin, That would be something more in line with Mal's - @mecox - expertise.

Marcin, No, don't have that one. Any chance of posting a photo of the date and one overall of the gunto? I don't have a FB account, so it won't let me see the link.

Jens, Kaz, over at this Warrelics thread got a full translation of the chart: 平時携帯兵器表 - Google Sheets.pdf

Thanks, Jace! That is the mark of Echizen’ya Tazaki Shōten, one of the makers of these swords. Also, one of the few we actually know the name of. Most are unknowns.