Bruce Pennington

Les, Here is what I have from a Gunboards thread:

September 1943 Mikko, Interesting civil tsuba with that first one. Is the one still on it a standard Army tsuba, or something civil, too? Also, the small stamp about the date is the NA of the Nagoya Army Arsenal. Your photo cuts off the top of the nakago on the mei side. Is ther a stamp up higher?

The smith would be on the other side, Alex. Can you post it?

Mikko, The photos are not very clear, not enough detail. But it is trying to be a civil sword re-fitted for WWII, as seen by the belt hanger (haikan) and tsuba (handguard). Cannot see the kabutogane well enough to tell if it is civil or military, but it appears pretty crudely made either way. Look here for real examples of WWII fittings: Standard Fittings

It's a real beauty, Peter! Thanks for posting! The small stamp on the kabutogane is the Tokyo 1st Army Arsenal inspector stamp. The mei is Koa Isshin Mantetesu made this Date: Spring 1942 Serial number: ノ302, or "NO 302". The NO series was right in the middle of the 1942 production year. If they counted the year by fiscal year (April to next Mar), it would put your blade around Oct of '42. If calendar year, it would be around Jun '42. You can read more on the following, but in short, the "W" or "M" was a half-way inspection stamp used by the army. The Mysterious W Stamp

Isaac, Thanks for the added photos! We have 7 Yoshishige on file now - 1 just an oshigata; 4 in kaigunto; 2 in Type 98. 1 a 1942, the rest 1943. So, you're in good company! The large Seki stamp is found on non-traditionally made blades, but good quality. And Kaigunto, much more rare than Army gunto, go for much more than gunto. I just checked ebay and they are ranging from $1,600 to 3,800, depending on condition, blade, saya style, etc.

Vitaly said: "Hello. I am new to Japanese weapons and ask respected experts to help me understand the authenticity of this Type 95. I will be very grateful for your answers. Best regards, wtim" Welcome Vitaly! So, this one gives me mixed feelings. Suya Shoten made quality gunto and the casting of the tsuba is low quality for a Suya gunto. Maybe a wartime replacement. I'm not worried about the black paint. I have 7 on file with various black paint schemes. Only 1 is confirmed to have been done post-war. The half-diamond just above the fuchi has no dimples. I searched my files and only 1 showed up in exactly the same place without dimples, and it too, is a Suya Shoten gunto. The saya end shape (not the drag, but the actual end that holds the blade tip) is a wee bet off. But after saying all that, everything else shapes up to be a legit Suya Shoten made Type 95. As a final check, I'd ask @Kiipu and/or @BANGBANGSAN if the serial number is correct for a Suya blade. I would also feel better with a good photo of the end of the blade showing the shape of the bohi (fuller groove).

Thanks Ray! I have 3 or 4 Masahiro on file with the same anchor stamp and the "hiro saku" kanji match. I'm listing it as a Masahiro. It's in souvenir fittings and he is the only "hiro" smith I've found in them.

Wow, Isaac, how do you like that! Similar Japanese numbers stamped on the tsuba, too. This one 155 and mine 15. Could you give me a full length nakago shot of the date? I can't see all the numbers in the photos above.

Yes, Paris, it's fake. Wrong bohi for a Tokyo 1st blade, punched dimples in tsuka, thin, squared-off latch, wrong positioning of the serial number.

August 1811 "KUNIHIDE (国秀), 1st gen., Bunka (文化, 1804-1818), Higo – “Enju Kunihide” (延寿国秀), “Higo no Kuni Enju Kunimura-masson Kunihide” (肥後国延寿国村末孫国秀, “Kunihide, successor of Enju Kunimura from Higo”), “Higo Kumamoto-jū Enju Kunihide saku” (肥後熊本住延寿国秀作), “Enju Kunihide” (延寿国日出), “Tōhi Kunihide” (東肥国日出, “Kunihide from the eastern part of Higo”), real name Tanaka Jusuke (田中寿助), he signed first with Kuninobu (国延), with the apprenticeship under Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀) he changed his name to Kunihide which he signed also with (国日出) his his later years, we know blades from the Kansei (寛政, 1789-1801) to the Bunsei era (文政, 1818-1830), dense ko-itame which tends to muji, suguha or gunome-midare in ko-nie-deki or nioi-deki, chūjō-saku"

It's always slow around here on weekends. Give them time.

I have this filed as "Sukenori" but I can't see it. Maybe the first kanji is SUKE (資), but I don't see "nori" on that second one!

There is a date of March 1944. Don't know if that is a manufacture date or issue date, but by the blanks, I'm guessing manufacture.

Neil, I can't answer the "why", but can say it has been discussed and guys suggest it might have been used as sort of a marketing flair. Give the visual effect of an important blade, possibly? Fakery? There have recently been a couple of blades that were being called gimei that had a kao (inscribed kakihan; not stamped kokuin). Use - Kakihan are all tied to individual smiths. Most kokuin are, too, however during the war, Amahide ran a forge where he and 4 other smiths used a forge kokuin (hot stamp). There are a couple of others, like the Warrior stamp, that are still a mystery. I agree with Kirill that generally, most are seen from the 1800's and later. I have 2 kakihan, one of the smith Sa and one of Kanemune on blades believed to be from the 13-1400s. Then I don't see any until the cut-testers started using them in the 16 and 1700s. Then in the 1800s they began in earnest with the smiths. All this is just blades, though. I don't track the tsuba and other items signed with mei and kao.

Great one, Sam! Yes, that throat looks just like the one on my copper. And like Thomas said, that tsuka style is scarce, so very collectable. That saya wrap is quite well done. Is it string or something fabric?

Checking Wikipedia, they estimate that at the end of the war the Navy had 1.66 million personnel (don't know the percentage of officers) vs 5.4 million for the Army. So right away, you can see there would be four times as many army gunto as navy. Then, like you say, every ship that went down carried it's officers and kaigunto with it.

I'll have a look through my files, John. Been needing a project to chase. I haven't spent much time on the kaigunto. There's just not as many to sample, and they are mostly undated, so data is harder to build. But I'll have a look.

That is a very early aluminum handle variation, I'd snatch it up even if the saya throat is not numbered (factory repair) or mismatched. You should see on the other side that the screw comes out in the ito: (photo curtesy of @Stegel} They changed to ito wrap pattern shortly after because the screw was getting damaged. The tsuka coating is interesting and is seen on a few other 95s over the years. @Conway S noted this on this thread: I mentioned the use of almite coating in that thread, but after re-reading @Shamsy's discussion about it, I believe it was something used on the bare aluminum before painting. So, don't know about the yellow coating, whether wartime of post-war. It was obviously put on this one after a good amount of wear and tear, so who knows! Steve's discussion:

Nice to see you again, too, John! Your idea is possible. I had the vague theory that the large was from post-war Tenshozan, while the small was from wartime Toyokawa. However, we (and I mean @Kiipu, @BANGBANGSAN, and @mecox) are trying to research the challenging idea that Toyokawa was not involved in making kaigunto at all and the circled anchor was a broad-based Navy stamp used by other/all Naval Arsenals. So, much work to be done on the Navy side of the stamping house.

Better than the average fake, but still lots of signs. It will bite plenty of the rookies, though.

That's a personal choice. If you search "preserve leather" or "leather preservation" you'll get a few discussions on the topic. Several guys have had success using various products. Here's one discussion: These guys recommend Ren Wax https://www.gunboard...403143#post-11403143

You already have more than Sesko lists: "AKIMARO (昭麿), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Niigata – “Akimaro” (昭麿), family name Yoneda (米田)"

A straight on, right side up photo of the stamp will help. It is the weekend, so responses will be slow. Also, if you don’t get answers here, there is a guy that does a lot of flag translation over there.