Bruce Pennington

Ed, is this yours? If so, could you check the mune for stamps? Some of his are numbered.

Hi Jackson! Can you do me a big favor and post a couple shots of the blade and fittings for the files? Koa Isshin, Mantetsu made; Spring 1940; serial "TO 827" It is the highest number I have on file of the TO series. TO was the 4th out of 11 series in 1940. Brian's link has a great history of the SMR Mantetsu operation. Several of us worked up an article that brought all the Mantetsu history we could find and included the discoveries made here at NMB about their operations. Here is the article, if you haven't seen it: SMR Mantetsu Article

Yes, you have it right, inspector stamp of Kokura's 1st Factory. Another example that "arsenal stamps" are not a definitive sign of showato. They are commonly seen on other gendaito like star-stamped RJT blades. I see you have plenty of info on Moritaka, but here is his page from Slough:

Thanks Dee! Hadn't logged one in from Moritaka yet. Like you said on the other thread, Kokura's 1st Factory inspector stamp. I haven't tracked the double stamping thoroughly, but I do have 12 on file from 1940 - 1944. Yours is the second earliest in my chart. Their presence doesn't say anything about the blade being traditional or not as I've seen them on RJT star stamped blades. @mecox and @Kiipu probably know more about the practice, and might have more to add.

I'm with Colin. Mine are at the base of my stairs in a gun cabinet with a class door. I get to see them every time I go down the stairs.

I put in a request, thanks Mal. Sohei-swords is @mdiddy, Matt Jarrel.

Agreed. Can you post a photo of the full nakago so we can see the shape?

To get to your original questions, I have not heard of anyone who successfully removed dark stains from a blade. Yes, a professional polisher can do it, if you are willing to pay the bucks. I suspect someone between WWII and you heavily buffed the nakago with a power buffer, taking off the yasurime and messing with the appearance. The fittings are nice and are normally seen of upgraded swords. Personal swords, refitted for the war, can often retain some of the civil metal fittings, like your menugi and tsuba.

There is a story that Abraham Lincoln was chatting with a guy (topic lost to time). Lincoln reportedly aske the guy "If we call a dog's tail a leg, how many legs will a dog have?" The guy said "5". Lincoln replied "No, a dog has 4 legs no matter what we call his tail."

Ha! We have a similar translation of FIAT - Fix It Again, Tony! Yes, Type 3 is likely the most universal term in the community. It will wash out in time, as all the terms get stirred in the pot and something will come out the other side.

No, that would be @Kiipu and @BANGBANGSAN. I feel like there is another guy, but I don't remember who.

That narrows it down to Fukuoka, according to this: "Kokura was the seat of government for Kokura Prefecture. When the municipal system of cities, towns and villages was introduced, Kokura Town was one of 25 towns in the prefecture, which later merged with Fukuoka Prefecture. Kokura was upgraded to city status in 1900.

Ha! So Mal didn't have an easy way to list him either! Maybe "Fukuoka/Kyushu" then.

Oh ineteresting. Both were correct: "Buzen Province Buzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of southeastern Fukuoka Prefecture and northwestern Ōita Prefecture.Buzen bordered on Bungo to the south, and Chikuzen to the north and west. Its abbreviated form name was Hōshū, Now I'll have to decide how to list him. Might just say "Buzen".

@george trotter Chris Bowen said he was from Kyushu, but Sesko lists him from Fukuoka. Do you know which is correct: "MASATSUGU (政次), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Fukuoka – “Buzen Kokura-jū Ki Masatsugu saku” (備前小倉住 紀政次作), “Kokura-jū Ki Masatsugu” (小倉住紀政次), real name Tokunaga Yoshiomi (徳永義臣), born 1896, student of Ki Masahiro (紀政広), his name Masatsugu is also listed with the characters (正次), he worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō, son of Tokunaga Masayuki (徳永政行), he died in 1965, kihin-jōi (Akihide) (see picture right)"

Ok, I don't have the Hawley, thanks! Thanks Conway! I had forgotten there was a Masa using "政". And that post is exactly why I hate it when guys post links to photo on IMGUR rather than on the forum. Those links are gone or the photos are.

Hi Chris, I really don't understand your concern. The term wasn't brought up until 2015 when Nick did his research on the Type 3 terminology. Collectors have been calling them Type 3, Type 44, NLF sword, Marine landing sword for 80 years. The contingency model, or rinji seishiki, term is only 9 years old and only seen by those who frequent Warrelics and NMB. So, it is quite understandable that the contingency label isn't seen 'out there' hardly at all. And it's not true that the term isn't seen anywhere else. I haven't gone back to re-read his posts, but he sites a shovel, I think, that was referred to as a contingency version in their official documents.

@SteveM @Kiipu @george trotter what do you say about this mei? It appears the Masa and Tsugu were crammed together side by side. If so, what is that last kanji? It doesn't look like Saku. Sorry about the blurry photo, it is the one posted by the seller. And is the first one "Ki" as the seller states? I don't see a KI Masatsugu in the RJT list or in Sesko's list.

Note the curve in the tsuka, like we were discussing on that other thread. Seen more in 94s than 98s.

Evolution of the Japanese Type 95 Gunto - Nick Komiya, Warrelics

They range from $900-1,400 USD, depending on your market, that may be different.

That's Ok, the majority of them aren't dated. No idea why. The leather cover set is excellent! Rare to have a complete set like this. The loop on the top end of the tsuba (handle) would have been the place that the rank tassel was hung.

At 58cm, or 22 inches, this would be called a wakizahi, or waki for short. It is the shorter of the 2 swords a samurai would wear. Recommend you post this blade, and tsuba, over on NMB's Nihonto Forum. There's a ton of guys there that can help you with the smith and age of the blade.

I suspect it was a custom order. I don’t remember where I read it, but I once read about a general who specifically requested such a curvature in the tsuka.

I have heard that about the European market. Too bad, there are tons of them in the US markets.