Bruce Pennington

John, great one thanks! Unpolished '39 in combat saya - 780,000 yen ($7,500 USD)!!!!!!!! Pics added in case the link goes dead in the future.

Neil, I've never seen a saya marked this way, so nothing to reference an opinion about this on. Your guess that the name was the surrendering owner is as good as I could come up with. The katakana & number above it would have some sort of meaning that he would understand, but this baby is just too unique to pin down.

Neil, The "Ho" was used by Kokura Arsenal as a "first inspetion mark", but why this would be marked on the outside of a saya is a mystery. Does the "83" match numbers on the other fittings?

Chuck, they are all the "Na" of Nagoya Arsenal. I have several extra seppa that I bought as a group when filling in a couple of my gunto that were missing seppa. If you want to PM me, and give me an address, I'll send you the lot, you can chose what you need and mail the rest back. I live in CO too, so easy mailing.

Check this thread, a couple of guys mentioned there, The_ozzy-samurai, and another. Might try DaveR also. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19949-small-metal-screw-replacements-for-shin-guntos/?hl=screws

Interesting! How's the fit?

Yes, and I believe I’ve seen it once before. If I can find it, I’ll post it here. Honestly, there’s no reason a guy who has a mon wouldn’t put it on a Rinji as well as any other. Like Nick says, they’re all gunto.

Real minty fittings, nice!

“this "desperation" officer's sword.” Really? So “desperate “ it’s in high-quality “non-desperate” koshirae!!! Ha! The lengths people will go to, to spice up the sales pitch!

Charlotte, I would love to hear the story of the family member that brought this home and how he came to own this. The fittings are standard for a blade that was either donated to the war effort by a family, or bought off the civil market by the government. There was quite a shortage of swords during the war and the government made quite a push to get privately owned swords to fill the gap. Once obtained, they would put a wooden saya (scabbard) covered in leather, like yours, and military handguards and spacers (tsuba & seppa). The handle is usually civilian, but will often have the army or navy emblem (menugi) tucked into the weave, like yours. Some were hastily put together, and may explain the look/quality of your handle. It is possible the blade was made during the war, but the fittings show it came from the civil market/family. Terms are confusing in this hobby, but "machine made" is a bit of a misnomer, as all officer swords were made by people. Yours COULD be non-traditionally made, but that simply means it was oil-tempered, rather than water, and other aspects. Yours is a true weapon, not a "parade" sword for show. If you can get clear close-ups of the temper line we might be able to make a better guess as to how it was made. Are there any writing on the other side? That is where the date ususally is, but they didn't always put one.

Plum blossoms are Chinese.

Chris, I agree with the above that the mei and date are WWII style and the date is 1943. The nakago looks too new to be older than that, unless it has been cleaned. Why it would have 3 mekugi ana - possibly field damage and repairs? What is it that gave the impression of 1800's?

Ok, thanks Jean.

Another one: A star-stamped blade by RJT smith Minamoto Morinobu, a resident of Higo Futami (肥後二見人). The "9" is poorly struck on the blade. Owned by Michael and posted here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28934-star-stamped-blade/

Ah so! The odd stamp on the nakago is probably a poorly struck "9" with "4" matching the numbers on the fittings. Thanks Michael!

But it's likely to be the tsuka craftsman's name, right, rather than maybe a koshirae shop name?

The top kanji are “373” which might match the same numbers on other fittings. The rest are probably the assembler’s name.

Dang, that's gorgeous Neil! Wondering now if they are made by a single manufacturer or shop, implying that gunto fitted with them came through the same shop? Or, if it's simply easily made by multiple koshirae manufacturers. Probably the latter.

Hey guys, I've got 2 tsuka with the same mei. Any chance it's a name or a company name? Interesting to find 2 tsuka clearly made by the same guy or shop.

Well, part of the other side is a date: A day in September, 1942. I can't read the rest. Also, John, do the tsuba and seppa have numbers or marking similar to the marking at the end of your nakago?

George and Bryce's have the same signature (I assume it's a name):

An RJT smith, found here: http://japaneseswordindex.com/gendai2.htm Very gorgeous Brad! The small stamp is hard to make out, but looks like a poorly struck Nagoya inspector stamp. I've seen these on Star-stamped RJT blades before.

I've always loved those fat, seppa. Any idea what metal it is made of Neil? Brass seems to get dull over time, this must be something else.

I believe the kanji on the other side are assumed to be the name of the saya craftsman, but I don’t think anyone has ever proven that for sure.

Well ... I just realized I was using the “Tachi” term wrong! A mind is a terrible thing. Sure causes me a lot of problems!