Bruce Pennington

I prefer to use the terms "traditionally made" or "non-traditionally made" because of the mileading impression the term "machine made" gives out. Here is a list of the various ways blades were made during the war: But even this list doesn't go into the details of what machinery were available and in use during these processes. There are pictures out and about of blade production during the war that show quite a few machines in shops where people were making the blades.

Both Alex' and Chis' examples are WAY above the usuall fakes we see. It's a real shame. And John's concern is real, too. His source in Japan is really cranking out some gimei.

After seeing the options I enlarged the pic. You can see the original cut, and it looks like Uwe’s kanji.

Uwe, That has potential! What does that mean?

Ahhso! I was looking at the last photo and the color made it blend in with the wood. It is clearly metal in the next-to-last photo. Thanks Steve!

That was my initial reaction too, hachi, but I have the same reservations about that as well. While this is 2 strokes, the tops should be parallel for hachi, not one over the other. Was there that much lattitude in personal style to allow such a variation? Another idea is that this is a personal mark, like a hot stamp or haikan. Was there a smith who's name started with 八? I have found some blades marked with the first kanji of the smith's name.

Posted on the Arsenal Stamps thread, a new one on me. The owner, Alex, believes it to be the hiragana "He", but it doesn't have the same shape of the He stamps I've seen to date. Thanks for the help! Post #436, here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5999-arsenal-stamps/page-15

Oh, I see what you mean. That is strange, isn't it! Could it simply be that the togishi polished part way down the nakago, then stopped?

Alex, Welcome! If you go to your personal profile page, you can set your first name into your posts so you don't have to type it in every time. That stamp is a new one on me! I am no Japanese language expert, but it doesn't seem the same as the "he" stamps I'm familiar with on the Type 95s (I'll post one for comparison). What kind of fittings are on this blade - army, navy?

Steve, I don't follow the late-war 95s, so forgive my question, but is it normal to see an all-wooden saya like that? I thought the wooden ones had a metal top-end piece.

Thanks Bruce. I'll add one of those to my Stamps Document! I'm not sure that the numbers on the nakago are serial numbers. It would be way out of the norm, if so, and quite impractical as serial numbers are used to issue items to soldiers and track ownership. It is more likely something stamped there by the koshirae fitters. But that's just an educated guess. Very nice gunto!

I see deep patina in the depths of the file marks.

I agree. There is definitely something not right about this blade (the offset machi; the look of the nakago) but the blade tip is nicely shaped, unlike the standard Chinese blade. Maybe it's a modern-made blade by someone not Japanese, but it doesn't match the "normal" Chinese fake.

Hate to invite others to bid against me, but there's a Mantetsu in near pristine koshirae for sale on Proxibid (Morphy Auctions, actually) coming up on Dec 9th. There is a 26% action fee, so keep that in mind for your max bid price. I don't expect to get it, because I'm trying to buy it for resale and won't bid up to market value. SO, if there is someone looking to buy a really nice Mantetsu for their collection, I'd have a go at this one. Blade tip has a bit of rust, but nice overall. https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?lid=51111158&campaign=SavedSearch_Email_Button&utm_campaign=SavedSearch_Email_Button

Ha! Please refer to 11th commandment!

Agree not Japanese, but could be from the war era, occupied lands made. Doesn't appear to be the standard fake.

Ha! Hey guys, what happened to "life of the blade" talk!? Always sad to see one of these beautiful weapons abused by too much time in a swamp or the hands of Bubba; but I still see something that was once fabulous. Life has treated her harshly, but she was a beauty once.

How do you join the YouTube group? When I. Lick your link I get this:

Jean, because, unless the gendaito is of a famous smith, they are both selling for similar prices on the market these days. But, if Hardy's blade is a family heirloom, then that won't matter to him. Hardy, I got my first gunto after my dad passed away, a mantetsu. It was missing parts and the blade looked like it had seen quite a bit. I took my time and fully replaced the missing parts and then paid to have it fully polished. It was worth every penny. It doesn' matter to me if I spent more than it's worth on the market - to me it's priceless.

I'm wondering if the kabutogane was a replacement. The details seem to be double-struck, and like you say, the hole isn't cut out for the sarute. Overall, the detals on it don't match the high quality of the other metal fittings. Might go along with the reasons for the re-wrap. Ditto with everyone else - need to see the nakago for more detailed eval.

Bruce, I’d love to see the nakago with serial number! Do you have pics?

Superior private with civil sword.

Pilot with standard length gunto:

That was interesting to read Ohmura's page on this, thanks Chris. He seems to claim that this configuration/pattern was a dedicated "army civilian employee" style. I wonder if that is an error in translation or if it was exactly what he meant? Other than this page, I have never seen anything or any other source calling it as such. Yet, the existance of another sword, fitted with the same style might support his claim.

Quite an interesting Rinji (type 3) rig! Love the white ito! Is that a steel menkugi or is it a screw? I found a Seki Kanenori listed in the RJT smith list on Japaneseswordindex.com, don't know if it is the same guy. No Star stamp, though? If it is the same guy, it is well known that many of the smiths made both gendaito and showato. Someone more knowledgable in the smiths will have to answer your question about the kanji.