Bruce Pennington

Sam has it. A partially struck stamp can often have me stymied. The large Seki stamp was used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association from 1940-1944, with the majority of dated blades made in 1942. So, you have an idea of approximately when your blade was made. The association was a civil group asked by the sword industry to inspect showato for quality. In the rush to meet the need of the Army when they switched from Western styles sabers to samurai style swords, there were shops putting out some poor quality blades. Sword makers were alarmed and asked the association to inspect blades to weed out the bad ones.

Justin, The serial number of the saya (scabbard) is on the face of the throat, like this:

Sorry, no. It's from Slough, pg 135. Don't have an actual of his on file. The May '45 Fumitada and Yoshinori are the same ones I have.

It was on ebay, and Foo Dog was posting for translation and considering a buy.

Hopefully not sidetracking the topic, but I have 5 blades from 4 RJT smiths with "Tokyo 1st Arsenal" in their mei - Naotake, Nobutake, Noriaki, and Katsunobu. - all star stamped. I don't know if the arsenal name being in the mei means they were employed at the arsenal, or if they were simply noting that the blades were being made for Tokyo 1st? On a related note, I have 2 blades with "Kasuga Workshop" in the mei. Fumitada and Yoshinori, both from Oita. I mention these as the pattern of naming their workplace seems to inline with indicating the Tokyo 1st blades might have been made at the arsenal.

John, Hamish's point "a mumei seki/showato tarted up at look like a more commercial sale to the uneducated white man, compared to a mumei seki-to that wouldnt evan sell on fleabay." would explain it. Plus, it could depend upon when this was done (assuming gimei). Before COVID, Mantetsu blades were selling over $3,000, where a mumei showato half that, and even a mumei nihonto in the $2,000 range. Post COVID, I agree with you, the prices are about the same, so why bother. I'm still waiting to hear if any nihonto were made with rounded mune. It seems unlikely that a faker would go to that great a detail, to take a mumei blade and round the mune. If they knew that much about Mantetsu blades, they would have known about the serial numbers too.

Boy, that blade is a conglomeration of mysteries! Kokuin with mystery stamp above it Anchor without circle and kissing ducks/mustache stamp below it An undated Shigemotsu blade.

Hi Erica, Can you post a photo of the whole sword and fittings, and a shot or 2 of the nakago, for confirmation. I don't doubt Steve's evaluation, I just like to keep files and would appreciate more shots.

I know of none. Are there documents that discuss/describe the KJT program? I have seen the term mentioned, scattered here and there, but know nothing about it.

And Ohmura's site has lots of quality photos you should study so you can recognize faker when it appears: Non-commissioned officers Gunto 1935 (Type 95 Guntō)/title> (ohmura-study.net)

Oops! Sorry brother! But you did give me a good laugh this morning!

Hi Frank! Looks like "99". Are there numbers on the other fittings, like seppa and tsuba?

It is unusual, but not unheard of. @Shamsy and @Stegel could tell you, but neither of them have been active for a while. @BANGBANGSAN or @Kiipu might track things like that.

Posting pics for posterity

Dang Gareth! That is in pretty pristine condition! I have one like that where I swear, the sergeant carried it must have been an accountant in a financial office and headquarters building somewhere. It never saw service in the field. I am also surprised to see the end of the bohi. It 90% follows the shape of the kissaki just like the Tokyo Arsenal blades do. A bit unusual for Nagoya. With these exceptions, you have quite an exceptional sword!

So, a few things We do have 2 '41 blades with real hamon - Ka 228 and Ka 232 228 232 They came out of Japan on a Buyee sale. It is possible that they are fakes, but much of the other signs seem legit, like the "Ka" being right for the year. But back to yours. We do have blades without serial numbers, but they are signed blades by Shigetsugu. We also have a waki with no serial number, that I think is legit. So, it's possible all these, including yours, are legit. But we don't know. One thing supporting yours is the curved nakago mune. I don't follow civil swords enough to know, but I don't think they had curved mune, and I don't think even the WWII blades from the mainland had curved mune. If I'm wrong about that, I'd like to know. On the other hand, I agree that the mei looks fresh. In this photo, you can see how clean the mei cuts are compared to the aged surface around it: But you have it in hand and can tell if that is a trick of the lighting and that there really is signs of age in the cuts. I'm going to file it, like the other ones, as I don't have enough info to say for sure either way. It's possible you have something quite cool.

@Gerry Ditto with John - can we get the serial number on the back edge of the nakago? May I ask who you bought this from?

Thomas, In the Stamps doc, I used Slough's terminology for the stamp. Do you think Morita's should be used instead?

Posted this on the Mods for Gunto Swords thread by mistake:

Here's a T98 with a sayajiri drag I've never seen! At auction HERE. On a Feb 1945 Nobumitsu with Gifu stamp in RS fittings: @PNSSHOGUN Edit: Realized this thread is for modifications, and this is not a mod, but an original manufactured item. Posted a link on the Fittings Thread.

@BANGBANGSAN I know we have another thread with several of these, but I cannot find it. I've been filing these as "Manchurian". This seller is claiming them to be Sumatran. I think they are wrong and we are right about them, but it is found AT THIS AUCTION

Ha! 11 hrs to bids closing and it's only up to $26. I was tempted to go for it, until I saw the fine print. Auction found HERE.

The only help I can offer you is to help take it off of your hands and into my collection! It's a nice one. Legit, if that is your question.

The link just goes to the .pdf Thomas added just above your post.

That is "Ki" キ122. Mantetsu used katakana to serialize their production line. Ki was the ninth line (out of 15) for the year 1943. I do not know if their "year" was calendar year or fiscal year. Fiscal year started in April, but you can sort of guess-timate the timeframe. Ki was 3/5 of the year (9 out of 15), so around May or August, depending on which "year" they were going by.