Bruce Pennington

Not yet, Bruno. Still saving up my fun money, but it's something I need to do.

Thanks for all the positive comments, guys! It was just exciting to have it completed and I wanted to share it all.

Here's some of the key pictures:

Three years ago, my dad passed away and I got his WWII Japanese officer sword. It was missing parts, so I've spent the last 3 years fixing it up, and have just had it polished. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to tell the story, as much as I have. It was made in Spring 1941, by the Mantetsu factory in Manchuria, and carrries the "Koa Issin" slogan. Don't know anything about it's path in the war, but by the look of the blade it did some duty in the field. My dad lied about his age (16 at the time) and joined the Marines in 1950. They kicked him out when Korea started, but he rejoined in 1956 and served 7 years and seperated as a Staff Sgt. Somewhere along that time, he picked up the Mantetsu. I wish I had asked him how he got it, but as a kid, it never occured to me. He did say that the missing parts were stolen buy guys "looking for jewels." When I got it in 2014, it was missing sarute, rank tassel, tsuba/seppa, semegane, ishizuke, and mekugi. I found a nice tsuba/seppa set from a Japanese seller online, and ordered the mekugi online. Then I found someone selling a tsuka that had the same cloth sarute, which I swapped out to Dad's tsuka. When looking for rank tassels, most Field grade tassels were in the $500 range where the Comapany grade tassels were around $150, so I decided Dad's mantetsu could be a Captain's sword! I later found a semegane. Had to file the inside of it to get it up the saya far enough! And the last piece, the ishizuke, came from another Mantetsu saya from The Ozzy Samurai on one of the forums. After a 2 year wait, my turn came up for the polish. I highly recommend David Hofhine. He did a fabulous job! I really debated about the polish. The blade was stained and scratched and showed that it had a bit of history. So I almost kept it that way. But in the end, it was Dad's and I wanted it to look top-notch, so I went ahead with it, and I'm glad I did. It's quite beautiful. Since I have difficult uploading pictures on this forum, with large enough data and size, I'm just going to link to the same post on Gunboards: http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?828922-Dad-s-Mantetsu-Koa-Issin&p=7427746#post7427746

Thanks Michel! Zodiacal dated (1944)! I'd love to find out why some smiths used zodiac dates vs standard dating.

Corry, Nice gunto buddy! The date is 1943, but I can't read smith names. The black saya is completely normal. You'll see one here, on the Ohmura site (along with many other colors, not normally seen): http://ohmura-study.net/904.html Price: I've paid way over market value for 2 or 3 of my gunto, but I REALLY wanted them, so it's worth it to me!

Very nice addition to the collection Matt! You are officially doomed with the rest of us now! Ha! Enjoy!

Looks like somebody used it for a cane! You're guess is as good as anyone's on the 94/98 question. If this was in the field the removable ashi could have been lost early on. Nice find!

That's really worn alright! So a 94! I'm assuming it has 2 ashi, can we see? I've never seen one other than in books, or Ohmura's site.

Yes, nice gunto!

Chris, the red seems to be a thin undercoat. Looking in the dented areas, therefore unrubbed, the top coat is the dark IJA green.

Sorry about the size, Stephen, but when I try to upload full sized pics, the NMB software tells me it's too big. So I downsize them to get them posted.

I've taken better picutres and compared it to a Type 95 blade. It's definitely different and not made the same way. It is more koshi sori than the NCO, slightly shorter, slightly narrower. The weight feels quite close, with the difference only due to the dimentional differences. The bo-hi goes under the habaki, and stops sooner than the NCO. Obviously the nakago is shorter. So, while this may have been made from a single piece of steel, like the NCO, it was made specifically to be this kind of gunto.

Chris, a real beauty! The stamps on the fuchi are the Nagoya Arsenal, and Nagoya inspector stamps. There is probably one more there, like Itme 9 in this picture. It should be the 関刀劍株式会社 (岐阜県・関町) Seki Tōken Co,Ltd. You can read more here: http://ohmura-study.net/794.html

Sorry for the bad pics, guys! It arrived as I was heading out for a work trip, so I snapped a few shots and posted before I had to head out. I'll do a better job when I get back, which means it'll be Sun/Mon before I can do it. Dave, I don't know how to tell if the chrome was done post-war. Is there a way? I kind of doubt it, though, since the blade in style and weight feels like a Type 95 in manufacture, and it looks idendical to the one in Dawson.

The one in Dawson:

I was excited to pick up this item because it's almost identical to the one depicted on Dawson's book, pages 156-158! Sadly, the chrome is coming off in isolated spots. Nakago has small inspector stamp, probably a Seki. My impression is that these were made during the gunto shortage of the mid-to-late '30s. It seems to be made by the same process as the NCO Type 95 blades, but chromed to "officer-ize" it, and obviously no serial number. The whole thing seems to have quite a bit of wear as the tsuka ito is fully darkened by hand oil and the saya paint is heavily worn off in most areas.

Looks like a repair to me, but I'm using my phone right now.

Chris, I think that stamp is a "Seki" stamp, pictured below. Neil, I am researching the fuller question!

The stamp is there in front of the number, and is probably Nagoya, but it's a little fuzzy on the bottom and I can't tell for sure. The seven is definitely a seven. Nagoya stamps are notoriously weak and very finely imprinted so that makes it harder to read.

Chris, I can't make out the stamp either, but everything else about this looks right!

I'm sorry, the blade isn't mine. It's owned by Edward Tinker, and being discussed here: http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?816970-Police-Sword&p=7329522#post7329522

That is a beautiful blade Brad, congrats!

Update: Just found this "W" on the ricasso of a Type 19 dress sword:

February 1945