Bruce Pennington

Kim, I have fittings, mostly tsuba & seppa, on file with three different star stamps. Yours is only the second example I've seen with the larger star with crossed points. Here is the other: Here is an example of a medium sized star: And I have several with these small stars: No one knows who used them, but I've always guessed them to be inspectors of the koshirae shops that made the fittings. Your idea about the Heijo factory is interesting, as they were known to make Type 95s late in the war. But this star is not one of the examples on the chart as it has cross strokes on each star tip. Doesn't rule it out, as even on that chart, they have a variant star indicated. All we can do, for now, is guess. But your guess is as good as mine at this point.

Yes. It's not common, however we have seen various arsenal inspector stamps on tsuba, seppa, kabutogane, and haikan. The Gourd - I have 5 blades on file with it, all navy stainless blades The "8" - I have 2 on file, both army; a Hidetoshi, and a Kanemichi Kanemichi Hidetoshi

Perfect, thank you, Ray!

Hi guys! Seems like I've seen this before, but can't place it. On a 1866 Hideyoshi blade on this http://Nihontowatch.com page. Is this a mon? If so, whose? Thanks!

I agree with Conway. Not the standard paint color for navy, but not unheard of. Alternating wrap turns are Japanese, but wrap style is not normal navy. Gaps in the wrap may point toward a re-wrap.

Nice, late 1500's! Sam, love that google translate "Fully assembled moped" Ha!

I've edited and turned them for easy reading for the translators: @SteveM @uwe @Ray Singer Blade, once we see it, might be moved over to the Nihonto section for better evaluation.

Are the daiseppa made of the same metal? Quite unusual.

A picture would help, but the brown saya is quite normal, but a custom job: I tried a search on that green ito, but keep coming up with army gunto discussions. Seems to appear more often on civil swords refitted for the war. So, don't know about what you saw.

Maybe it had a mon, now broken off?

You guys are like hens when they see a red blood spot on another hen. They peck at it till the hen dies. Try to be better than hens.

I know the idea has been tossed around a few times. Are you thinking of something done professionally, and sold like Sesko books through Lulu.com? If a free digital, you could simply do what I have done and take the .pdf's to a print shop. I combined the Mantetsu, Souvenir, and Stamps articles and paid a print shop to print them out as a single book.

I'd appreciate a full-length shot of the nakago (tang), please? Showing stamp.

Might be a cheaper way to own a General Officer tsuka (and nakago).

What do you mean, Marcin?

Excellent, Thomas! I had forgotten that one. You must have a photographic memory.

Yours is similar to the one posted by Sam, and shows how the haikan fits just aft of the second snap. Thanks for posting!

Marcin, that's the only two locations I'm aware of on a Type 98 where Wakase marked their items. Matt, nice gunto my friend! I agree, I like those special thinner tsuba.

Sounds like a good guess, thanks Trystan! @Rawa almost all haikan are under the leather. Don't know about the location in the snap area. Never say never nor always!

Thanks for posting the SA shot! I have one other, and it's on a naval Type 19. So that shop made them for both services, clearly.

I don't study these specifically, but seems legit to me. I thought, at first, the backstrap should have dimples, but Plimpton shows examples with a smooth surface like this.

Dave, The kiri in this case is a kamon, or family crest. There have been a few posted at NMB over the years. Here is one for example: Concerning the knot, Dawson, page 432, calls it a "standard naval sword knot used from 1883 (possibly earlier) until 1945". Like the brown naval tassel, I believe he is saying that they were both for all ranks. Page 422 has a photo of an admiral with this standard knot on his sword. So, navy for sure, but rank not knowable.

This is often true of blades with the Showa stamp and large Seki stamp. There is a known case of a Showa-stamped blades getting papers at Shinsa. I should have said that those blades must have had something different, like the use of another steel other than tamahagane or an oil quench that set them outside the gendaito classification.

Hi Scott, The stamp is the large Seki stamp of the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. Blades with this stamp were made between 1940 - 1944, and most dated blades were dated 1942. These are usually well made, with attractive hamon, like yours, but were oil quenched for speed of production. So, they fall into the "showato," or non-traditionally made, category. It is not uncommon to see them in civil fittings, with military leather covered saya.

Wow, Trystan! What do you think we are seeing here, with the label/stamp? This seems to imply they were stamping the donated/bought swords as they collected them, and numbered them? Google says "Takeuchi" means "bamboo inside", but I doubt the saya was made of bamboo. What do you think it is saying?