Bruce Pennington

Brian and Mal answered it, but just adding that it is rare, but not unheard-of. I've seen good luck slogans, Buddhist notations, horimono, even school graduation notations. Oliver got it. All the high-tech spell checking, and other software can't help us if we type something wrong that's spelled right!

And now they seem to be popping up! This one posted by @Newsword1 HERE.

Great photo of an Army NCO aviator with his full-length Type 95! Found on this Wehrmacht-awards Thread.

Here's what Sesko has on him: "TOSHIHIDE (俊秀), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Hokkaidō – “Ōmi no Kuni Shiga Tarō Minamoto Hideaki” (近江国志賀太郎源秀明), “Minamoto Toshihide” (源俊秀), “Zuisen Horii Toshihide” (瑞泉堀井俊秀), real name Horii Kaneyoshi (堀井兼吉), he was born on the second day of the third month Meiji 19 (明治, 1886) in the village of Shimosaka (下坂) in Shiga Prefecture, 1905 he entered an apprenticeship under Horii Taneaki (堀井胤明), he signed in early years with Hideaki (秀明), a name that was granted to him in 1913 by the NBTHK, 1911 he married the daughter of Taneaki and was adopted into the Horii family, thereupon he changed his name to Shiga Tarō (志賀太郎), the name change of the smith name to Toshihide took place in December 1933 with the birth of emperor Akihito (明仁) because he refrained out of respect from using the same character of “Aki” (明), he died in 1943, shinpin no retsu (Akihide), Special Honor Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)" Your blade is dated June 1929, so pretty early for a WWII smith. The sword is a Type 97 Japanese Naval officer's sword. You can read about them on Ohmura's site here: Naval Commissioned Officers Sword - Ohmura The tsuba (handguard) is civilian, so unusual to see on a Navy kaigunto. Maybe it was something the officer brought from home.

Yes, he studied under the famous smith, Koa, and their jointly made blades were signed Koa Isshin! When he graduated, his signed with his own art name, Isshin. Ha! Sorry couldn't resist that. Just Joking !!! I only have 3 other blades by him on file, all Showa stamped. This one might be but the stamp is so poorly struck, I can't tell if it was a Showa or a large Seki. The only dated one was 1940.

Had that one, but glad you brought it up as I had mis-read the date as "1944". Fixed now, thank you!

I'm afraid other guys will have to help with that question. Not something I'm aware of, other than simply seeing a lot of nakogo over the years.

It's often mentioned that full sized swords were made this way, too, but until now I'd never seen one. Thanks to @Kiipu sharing some pages from "Modern Japanese Swords : The Beginning of the Gendaito Era"; Kapp, Leon; Kapp, Hiroko; Monson, Leo, here is an example:

That's great, John! Looks like it's dated June 8, 1943. 1942 (Thanks Steve!)

I checked his mei on various others and while his Ishihara seems uniform, he did seem to vary how he made the "Kane". Only a couple had "Noshu" while most had "Seki", and a rare few had no locale at all. This one from JSI shows his "normal" "Kane"

Pretty rare to see such a long nakago & tskua on a gunto. Wonder why it was made so long?

Wow, how unique!

We have this Spring '42 Koa Isshin, RA 1027, on file from a post a few months ago by @Big Dan 146, but it is for sale now, at this Case Antiques Auction. Thanks to @Ontario_Archaeology for the tip! Posting because it has Tokyo 1st and Nakano Shoten stamps on the kabutogane. We see these, now and then, but not often:

Compared to other Masashige on file, and while that "shige" has slight problems (maybe done by an apprentice?) it does match the mei of this Masashige: @mecox And he's one of those star-stamped smiths not found on the RJT list.

Hi "A", Not Tony Grady, class of '77, is it? You can read up on your sword at Ohmura's site: Army Officers sword Type 98. It only costs about $300 to get your tsuka (handle) re-wrapped. It'll really give it a nice touch. The tsuka comes off easily. Here's a video: Removing Handle - Japanese Sword And some care instructions: Japanese sword Care - Japaneseindex.com

Silence probably means no one knows. @SteveM @k morita @Nobody @BANGBANGSAN

I scrolled through Sesko's list of "Masa..." smiths and couldn't find any with that kanji. What is that saying? Is it a simplified version of "義"?

For those who follow RJT blades & smiths, I want to clarify currently observed blades by smiths Masayoshi. @mecox @vajo JSI RJT list shows: Ryu Masayoshi ??? Takahashi Masayoshi 正良 - Aomori Kosaka Masayoshi 正美 - Osaka What we have, so far, are these: Masayoshi 正良, Ittosai - Tokushima (source - Mal Cox Article) Masayoshi 正吉, Oki – Shimane Slough said "Oki" while Sesko said "Oku" Don't know which is accurate. Mei includes "Yakumo" city? Masayoshi 正美, Kosaka - Osaka Examples Ittosai Masayoshi (Cox Article) Oki Masayoshi (Smallsword, ebay) Kosaka Masayoshi, (Vajo, NMB) I post this to see if A. I have this right, B. to see if anyone has insights on "Ryu" and "Takahashi", and C. if anyone else has blades from these smiths, I'd love to get photos!

Maybe like our "Certified" marks and labels, today. Nagahisa used it on his too, slightly different version of it, though:

Thanks Steve! What about that kanji I circled?

It actually says both December and August? Also, if you don't mind, I've seen this marking on a couple of cutter mei. Can you tell me what it means (I think I've asked that before, but too much water under that bridge!)

Nice kaigunto, Rob! I've always liked the 8 seppa set-up, looks good. Kanemichi was quite the prolific tosho. I have 46 of his blades on file, half of them Showa stamped, 10 of them 1941.

That's a Poster Child example, for sure, Robert! And yes, this thread seems ideal for continued use.

Might help to see pictures of the tang and the whole bare blade without the fittings.