Bruce Pennington

Dave, If your question about value means "Is this sword worth anything?", then yes. While we wait for the experts on older blades, I can say that the fittings are WWII Japanese officer Type 98 fittings. Those alone can sell for hundreds of dollars. Complete swords, like yours can range from $900 to $1,400. If the blade is determined to be something worth restoring, the price doubles and can go higher, depending upon various aspects. Most collectors feel that all swords are worth preserving unless damaged terribly. WWII collectors even hold the damaged ones with respect as they represent the lives of those who served their country. Here is a page about care and cleaning: Japanese Sword Care

While we wait for your answer, I must amend my arising doubts about the Showa stamp from the post above. Ohmura's website quotes a 1940 Japanese magazine article which clearly specifies it was the Showa stamp being used by the Seki City Manufacturers Association. One can only speculate why the polisher, in the discussion above, thought that the army had placed the stamp on blades, but I suspect he saw blades at an arsenal where he worked with the stamp and assumed the army inspectors had done the stamping. Honestly, we don't know how or when the Association did the stamping. It is possible they had reps at the arsenals inspecting blades that came in. Who knows? But both Ohmura and the Seki City website say the Association was inspecting blades and the magazine article said it was the Showa stamp being used. Back to awaiting your source about Toyokawa. Are you able to cite Wikipedia? Toyokawa Naval Arsenal - Wikipedia They state: "The land was acquired in the towns of Toyokawa and Uchikubo and village of Yawata in eastern Aichi Prefecture by July 1938, and construction began on October 1, 1938. The formal opening ceremony for the new facility was held on December 15, 1939. The new plant initially covered 200 hectares, and had 1500 employees. "

Luke, Don't have anything you can reference, sorry, but all the threads and videos I've seen about how to build a tsuka, show two wooden halves with a rectangular groove that gets filled with same' (rayskin). Then the tsuka gets wrapped with ito. I've never seen anything that shows a layer of fabric under the rayskin. Your dirk has something. So, we know it happened. I personally feel that the maker had wooden halves that, together, didin't fit the pre-fabbed kabutogane and placed the fabric to 'fatten up' the shape to fit. Just my 2 cents.

Conway, you never cease to amaze me! Good call. It's a Masanori, thought for a second it was Mitsunobu. Never mind. But great ID work on the saka. Ed, thanks for the mune number! The chevorns seem to be polisher marks, but I've never seen any like that for sure.

Thanks Marcin. I only had 3 other Teruhide on file, and none of them showed the mune, so I don't know if they were numbered. I have 13 Mitsunobu - 6 with mune numbers, 7 with star stamp. None of them are Showa or large Seki stamped. Interesting that the "751" of this Teruhide fall into the line-up of the Mitsunobu numbers of "707" and "776" on file. Japaneseswordindex cites the theory that his Teruhide mei represented traditionally made while Mitsunobo is found on non-traditional. It would take a thorough examination to try to pin that down. I doubt my file photos would suffice.

Ed, Is this yours? I have several Masakuni blades on file that are star stamped. Could we get a clear, brighter shot of the top of the nakago? Also, there could be stamped numbers on the nakago mune.

Another kaigunto with it's own take on how to fit around 2 haikan. Posted by @Matsunoki HERE.

John, is the kissaki half imbeded in the carpet, or is that a naganita-style kissaki?

John, After re-reading Nick's document, he mentions that after 2 years, problems with the 25 were identified and fixes proposed, but he says that he didn't know if any of them were actually applied. I have not looked at the 25s enough to say for sure, but I think the first one was never made, right? "Improvement request 1 A button to free the sword from the scabbard was located on the backstrap of the grip, but this position being exposed to falling rain, let the rain seep into the grip from around the button, which further led to the scabbard filling with water and causing the blade to rust. In addition, the spring effect of the Chuso lock got weaker and soon would not suffice to hold the blade in the scabbard. So the idea was to eliminate water entry by discontinuing the unlock button and instead adopt leafsprings attached to the mouth piece of the scabbard, like the construction applied to bayonet scabbards, which hold the blade and prevent slipping out of the scabbard."

Jeff, You have a Type 98 officer sword. You can read up on them here: Commissioned Officer Sword - 1938; Ohmura Care and cleaning tips: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com

Hi Kevin! Just curious, is your screenname from the movie? Loved that one! For starters, a civil blade fitted with leather cover for the war. Looks like a wakizashi (cutting edge shorter than 24"). Is the tassel all brown?

Marcin, The civil swords refitted for the war came in all sorts of combinations. I've seen old blades in: full military koshirae; military koshirae, but civil tsuka; military koshirae, with civil menugi; full civil fittings, leather cover; civil fittings, military tsuka; field saya, civil tsuka, army menugi; etc.

Luke, I tried finding the Warrelics post this came from, but couldn't. Maybe Thomas - @Kiipu - or @IJASWORDS = can help you. While the letter from the polisher had some interesting insight to wartime blade production, he wasn't correct about the source of the Showa stamp. My thought is that, as a polisher, he simply saw blades at the arsenal with the Showa and anchor stamps and assumed they were put there by arsenal inspectors. We now know, from a wartime magazine article, that the Showa stamp was an inspector of the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. Thomas, he's referencing this post:

The fastener method is quite common. That kabutogane is a bit unusual, but knowing what we do about the late war effect on supplies, it doesn't bother me. I agree, it's likely late war. As to who carried it, it's not possible to know. We've seen it carried by active officers, NCOs, and Gunzoku.

Thanks Sam. An odd one. I have several of his blades with numbers, but they are 3 and 4 digit and follow sequentially. As Gilda Radner said - It's always somethin'!

Here's one of FB. "Kill the enemy, Serve the nation", with Buddhist symbols of peach and pearl:

Con, where is the "80?"

Interesting theory, Marcin. It would normally be considered a fittings assembly number, but supporting your idea is the fact that the number is not on the other pieces (only one side of the seppa are shown. It would help to see the other side, too). I have two blades on file with an "8" on the nakagojiri. A Kanemichi and a Hidetoshi: Filed under "Unknown". I've been assuming they are a shop logo, but your idea is just as plausible.

Kaigunto with white samegane and army colored ito. At this O'Gallerie Auction. Blade is a Seki stamped Yoshinaga.

Ah yes. I've heard of the nanban blades. And I should have said "imported" because I don't know that it was Western steel they used.

Ha, and even that is messy! We know that some makers, way back, used Western steel. Yet, today, no one would be able to tell which blades had it. So, they would be labeled as nihonto by collectors. It's messy. I will often just say "traditionally made" or "non-traditionally made".

I've never heard the history of how the collecting world started using "gendaito" to mean Showa-era nihonto, but it's probably a short-hand way of saying that.

Mike, Welcome to NMB! You can read up on your Navy sword (kaigunto) on Ohmura's site: Naval Officer Swords Care and cleaning tips: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com