Bruce Pennington

You may be right, I was just curious. Ohmura calls it "last stage" He certainly knows more about Japanese military swords than I do, but I wonder how he came about his dating. From simple appearance, it seems he is going by quality workmanship, left to right, finest to crudest. That may be true as a generalized trend for the war, but I've seen some really nice tsuba/fittings on gunto from the last year of the war, too. I haven't paid enough attention to the topic to say more, and I don't recall whether I've seen crude tsuba/fittings on early or mid-war gunto. Guess I'll have to start paying attention.

Yes, 3 has less well defined details. Sam, just curious as to why you feel they are late-war?

Speaking of different versions, Marcin found this one. Hard to say for sure, but it appears to have the clasped hands as well:

Hey guys! Another one of those dates written in a different way. Pretty sure the smith is Kanehiro, but correct me if I'm wrong on that. Thanks in advance for the help!

Thanks gentlemen. I'll pass it on to the owner.

I agree with all the above. Additionally, look at the size and position of the flags on this one compared to the one in the reference book.

Marcin, Remember the saying “with World War II Japanese swords, never say never or always.“ I agree that we have seen some sets where the stamps are found on the drag, as well as the tsuba. But we have also seen plenty where it is just found on the drag. Now I will admit that maybe not all cases show both parts. You would have to run a search and a survey to collect data and find out.

This one found by @Marcin:

Ah good, thanks Robert. The earlier photo played tricks on my eyes. It seemed flat on the end, like a drag. But with these, I see the true shape. Very nice collection!

You can also look higher above the smith's name (mei). If there is a small stamp, I can give you a date range. If not, we are down to 1935-1945.

Come on Brian! When do we get Scratch-'N-Sniff option for NMB? Ha!

I'm sorry, I mean like this: So I can see the curvature of the end, and how flat the drag is.

Don’t know what that is. There are a variety of mystery marks that I have seen involving small squares. Yours doesn’t look like a single square, but has an appendage off to the right for lack of a better word.

Thanks guys. Is the "Ichimoshi" correct? BTW, someone at Gunboards said this: "一簷子保隣 It seems the name isn't the creator's name, but rather implies that maintaining the eaves of one's own house ultimately protects the neighbor's property."

Wakase Co. made these. Usually very good quality fittings.

Here's your guy: "KANESUMI (兼住), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanesumi” (兼住), real name Satō Kōhachi (佐藤幸八), born October 10th 1891, he worked as a rikugun-jumei-tōshō" The large Seki stamp was the approval stamp of the civilian Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. They used this stamp from 1940 to 1944. Most blades with this stamp that are dated were made in 1942. They are usually very nice blades, but likely not fully traditionally made. Here's some tips on caring for your blade: Japanese Sword Care Guide Yours is a Type 98 Japanese Officer sword (gunto). You can read about them here: Army Commisioned Officer Gunto I can't tell if the saya (scabbard) is metal or wood from your picture, but if wood, it is called a field saya (or as Ohmura called them, informal saya). You can see them here: Informality Mounting

Robert, From that last photo, it looks like the saya end has a drag? Also, which blade is in this one? Can you take a shot looking at it from the side, to show the shape more clearly?

Japanese to English translate says "Ichimoshi Yasunori". I can see a 保 Yasu, but not nori. Help, please?

Mark, Is this the only photo you have? Without a more clear picture, I can't say. I've played around a bit to see if I could bring it out, but, inconclusive. It still could be a Seki:

I just saw it one sell for $1,900.

That is a beauty, Marzio! Thanks for sharing it. I really love my Takayama style blade. They are something special.

Or a recently made cover. Seth, what do you see with the cover in hand? Does it appear to have any age?

Well shoot! Now that you say that, I had to re-look, and how about that tsuba?! It's the 'pine tree' tsuba @IJASWORDS and @Bruno brought to light: What initially bothered me was the Like-New canvas cover, then the wrap, then the like-new nakago with wavering shinogi. But now, with this tsuba, it very well could be late-war, made in Manchuria or other areas.

Agreed. All the signs point to modern Chinese. Hope you didn't pay much.

I'm realizing the belt topic, like swords, is going to be bigger and broader than I'd imagined. Here's a belt shared by @Marcin. It's advertised to be a "youth school, pre-military" belt. I asked Akira Komiya at Warrelics about it and he believes it to be a "...belt with the round buckle to be for a girl’s school uniform. I remember seeing some school girls wearing such belts with their summer white sailor jacket style school uniforms while commuting on trains. I believe they were students of the high school/junior high school attached to the Ochanomizu Women’s University as they would have taken the same line as I did. Here is an example photo of the uniform complete with belt. Although the belt is not identical, there are other schools which uniforms came with belts" So, essentially correct. Belt in question: Akira's example: