Bruce Pennington

And finally, for today, a July 1943 Akimichi, thanks to our good friend @Beater. Another Saitama smith, サ 123

An Akikuni posted by @csymmes back in 2010 (not likely to get him back for better photos) on this NMB Thread. He doesn't post full photos of the nakago, so I cannot verify the date or name, which he states in text form, is February 1941. Actually he was told the translation by an unnamed source. If so, it moves the RJT program up in time considerably. Previously, the earliest star-stamped blades was a June 1941 Kanetoshi.

Been searching the web for RJT smiths not in the chart yet, and found this Akitomi on this Aoijapan.net page. Interesting that Sesko's list didn't have his prefecture. But due to what we've discovered about prefecture-specific katakana + numbering, we can see he was from Saitama. We already have Akinori and Akitsugu with the サ stamp, both from Saitama. Interesting that they are all 3 "Aki" names. It is the latest date observed using the katakan + numbering system, also. The JSI RJT List shows a "Kotani Akitomi", but Sesko and Aoi Japan lists him as "Koyano Akitomi".

@george trotter Just came across this Dec 1943 Kazunori in standard, steel saya. On this St. Croix Blades page. I does seem like the first version of it was a darker tan, and maybe the light tan came after.

Glad to see NMB is back! It was not reachable for the whole of last evening (Colorado Mountain Time), from 6pm to 10pm.

May I ask what is being said on the side of the kiku?

Thanks for checking, Tom. After another look, I see it's "81" not just 8. I have 21 Kanenao on file with Showa, Seki, and Navy anchor stamps, but this is the only one I've seen with a number.

That's a good looking blade. He sells a LOT of swords. I've had some good experiences. He even took one back for full refund, once. Been known to change fittings around, now and then. So, you never know if they are original to the gunto. However, that's true of any sword you buy that wasn't a known "Brought back by my grandfather" sword. This one looks like one of the seppa is a substitute. Tsuka might be re-done, but hard to really say with the photos. Overall, looks nice.

Hi Peter, The blade is a legit Mantetsu. Like Stephen has posted, Mantetsu prices are on the rise. Pre-COVID they were all over $3,000 USD, and it seems they are headed that way again. The seller is a member here, and I've not heard anything negative about him. There are 3 (including this one) listed on ebay right now, but I see you are in Germany, so it may be the only one on your version of it. Ebay Mantetsu listings I don't know the EU market for re-wraps, but in the USA it only costs $300 to re-wrap a tsuka. The rest looks Ok to me.

Well, I don't see a "Saito" in the names of the RJT smiths. It would mean finding out which of them are from Yamagata, then searching Sesko for one that uses that name. If anyone has a clue, let me know. @mecox? @vajo? @Kiipu? @BANGBANGSAN?

Yes, good point. The fuchi doesn't completely fit and the tsuba/seppa set look loose. However, the mekugi is missing. So, the whole rig could just be loose due to that. Could have been one of those gunto that showed up missing those parts, like my Mantetsu, and a collector pieced some stuff together.

Got another - Oct '42 Akiyoshi, stamped with "153". Didn't save the link but it was a Worthpoint post of an old ebay sale:

For those following RJT blades - @vajo @BANGBANGSAN @Kiipu - just found the second earliest RJT blade so far. Posted by @Stephen V back in 2013 here: It's an August 1941 Akiyoshi: Only one earlier is a June 1941, Kanetoshi, posted by Trystan.

Thanks Ron! A little cleaner than the auction house's rendition. I can see similarities to the 出羽山形住藤田昭吉 Fujita Akiyoshi name. Not exact, but then neither was the mei on @Crusader22's blade. He must have played with his mei, like some smiths did.

Star stamped, August 1944 RJT blade, but mei is only partial. Can you give me the part that is showing? Sword for sale at this Sofe Auction. They claim " The tang is signed Ushu Yamagata Ju Saito, likely Fujita Akiyoshi who made gendaito for the army from Ushu."

Here's an unusual one - a Type 98 almost standard, except it's got a budo (grape leaf) Gunzoku fuchi. Found at this Bamfords Auction. Blade is an undated, showa stamped Kanesada:

Wow, that tsuba is unique! The kabutogane and fuchi are normal fare for Gunzoku though: The tsuba normally look like this:

Yeah, I don't know. That's why I leave it open that an apprentice made it? But if an apprentice, wouldn't they use the master's stamp? Not enough is known.

That's pretty cool, Henry! Don't know if you know, the the sakura pattern on the tsuba and seppa are of the Gunzoku. So a member of the civil branch of the military carried this during the war.

You can read a bit about this from the actual post-WWII Army documents posted in our Downloads section - WWII US Govt Archived Documents and Swords Richard Fuller estimates that over 2,000,000 swords were taken by the Allies (includes Russia and China) at the end of the war. US military documented 661,621. Of these, "372,609 were dispersed as trophies, to museums, and technical use... The remaining 289,012 were destroyed." Many nihonto were retained by locals, and/or returned to them, but many obviously never were. Houses were raided, but many citizens hid swords in roofs and under floors. I have seen no numbers on how many were brought, donated, or bought for the war. There were at least 2 big public campaigns to get private swords for the war, but haven't seen anything that described their success. You'll have to use your imagination for the rest. I personally doubt many families donated/sold real National Treasure level swords. Most likely the stuff we see that was mass produced during the big war eras of old. But they were still nihonto.

Dang! Looks like someone took a belt sander to a totally rusted/corroded blade.

Dang! Thanks Trystan. I've fixed my files and the chart on that one. However, I do have at least 2 more in '43. June 1943, Kaneyoshi, @grapppa NMB October 1943, VIP Auction

I try to give blades the benefit of the doubt, but after comparing kokuin and kakihan, I don't think this one was made by the smith, and is likely gimei. Kokuin - There are relative dimensional issues; all the originals on the left are more rectangular with rounded corners. The questionable one on right is oval Kakihan The 3 on the left are original, the one in question is 4, and an obvous fake is far right. The one in question has 2 vertical strokes in the top bulb of the "B" that shouldn't be there, and the big vertical stroke on the left side isn't deep enough, doesn't fish-hook back up enough, and starts too high above the "B" compared to all the rest. I can't address the mei, but there are enough examples here, is someone wants to compare.

That was a very interesting story, Zi, thank you! We actually have 4 1944 Koa Isshin on file, so if this story means that only 6 Koa Isshin were made that year - we have 4 of them on file now! I suppose it could mean they made 6 specifically for the visit aside from others that may have been made for the war. Great piece of history, either way.

I asked Akira Komiya, at Warrelics, if he know of any documentation on the use of celluloid on dirks. His answer: "I haven’t really looked into whether there are any documentation on the use of celluloid on navy dirks but it is commonly accepted here that those are late war. I once met a veteran who was a graduate of the first graduating class of 海軍予備生徒, Kaigun Yobi Seito, literally meaning Navy Reserve Student, a short lived system which I don’t really understand but where students go to the Naval Academy but are commissioned as reserve officers upon graduation; the usual system where college students go into the navy as reserve officer candidates was Kaigun Yobi Gakusei, which can also only be translated as Navy Reserve Student. (In modern Japanese usage “seito” typically indicates elementary school students whereas “gakusei” indicates students of junior high school and up, but in the navy, it was the other way round and “Seito” meant students of the 3 Naval Officer Schools, i.e., the Naval Academy, Naval Engineering School and Naval Accounting School with “Gakusei” meaning trainees at specialty training schools.) In any case, he was issued a dirk with cow hide sheath and celluloid grip and the buckle on his sword belt was a one piece buckle with silver washed anchor and cherry blossom which quickly wore off, instead of the usual separately affixed insignia of which facts he was still bitter of after 40 years." So, the only evidence we have, so far, still points to Fuller's dirk being a late-war item. Anything is possible, but for now, this is all we have.