Kiipu

Trystan, that reminds me that some of the early Type 95s had a gray, or for some grey, primer coat. @Stegel has mentioned this more than once and below is a link to one of his missives. Brass Scabbard NCO Copper Handle, Post #3

Rob, how about a picture of the scabbard mouth showing the serial number? Bruce will give you a big "Thanks" to add to your score unless of course he has exceeded his limit again! Below is a link to 47961 which is the next closest to the one above. Arsenal Stamps., Page 18

This seems to be a variant of the plain brass Chinese version; however, the menuki is of a different style than the others that are pictured on the various forums. The small differences that appear in these Chinese versions could indicate production from more than one location? The survival rate seems high and this would seem to indicate a decent amount of them were manufactured during the war. Several have direct connections to veterans that brought them back. Another unusual sword ww2 sword?, Post #18

Todd, the blade was made in 1943. 昭和十八年 = 1943.

It is a 10th ヌ series, serial number unreadable, and is dated Spring 1940 昭和庚辰春. This would make it the 7th known from this series.

I will take Ray one step further and provide a link to his blog post that the video is based upon. 5 Guidelines for the Beginning Collector of Japanese Swords And since I am looking at his website, I will provide the link to the articles written by the late Jim Kurrasch. Jim Kurrasch articles As a former editor and publisher once told me, it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission!

Klaus, the nakago mune just has two 名 inspection marks, one is just larger than the other. Nothing to fret about.

Shigemitsu 繁光 delivered his blades to the Sasebo Naval District 佐世保鎮守府 so I doubt it relates to your statement above. This information is coming from the webpage that depicts his August 1945 dated blade that I linked to above.

As of 1937, Shigemitsu live in Fukuoka City 福岡市, Fukuoka Prefecture 福岡県. His full name is Suetsugu Shigemitsu 末次･繁光 and he and his 7 apprentices could turn out five blades per month. The use of Tsukushi 筑紫 above his signature can mean one of two things. 筑紫国 Tsukushi Province was an ancient province now located within Fukuoka Prefecture 福岡県. Tsukushi-no-shima 筑紫島 "Island of Tsukushi" is another name used in the past for Kyūshū 九州. I am inclined to think Tsukushi 筑紫 in this context is referring to the old province and not the island. Does anyone have any thoughts that differ from this interpretation? A link to one of his blades made in August 1945. 福岡住末次繁光作 昭和二十年八月日 @mecox Another one for the naval swords monograph. Looks like number 264? 博多刀匠　末次繁光

In regards to the oval stamp on the Shigemitsu blade, I have found another blade that seems to have this as part of the inscription. Now I am wondering what this is all about. signature on broken sword Plus another oval stamp that is duplicated below via @george trotter. Naval sword translation Smith Mei

Yep, that's him! I sure hope the Japanese designer is getting royalties. Yosemite Sam

As an aside, the removal of the markings and the fixing up of the sword are more than likely two different events. This stamp and date and/or mei removal has been seen before, sometimes done by the original owner, immediate family, or dealers, after the war.

Bruce, that is the only one I have recorded and it was reported by @Stephen back in 2006. I think this is an earlier Type 97 versus a later Type 97? The blade actually has two naval type markings on it. Obverse: Plain Anchor + mustache? logo + 筑紫末次繁光 [Tsukushi Suetsugu Shigemitsu]. Reverse: 海 = kai = maybe a shortened form of kaigun 海軍 [navy or naval]? Plus two more characters in an oval. Shigemitsu Thank goodness the moderator does not delete old posts! Just look at all the fun or trouble we have with them.

In addition, the reverse side of the tang has a marking removed above the mei. This was either a Seki 関 or Shō 昭 stamp. The paper speculates that the production date was 1941. @Bruce Pennington

1941 昭和辛巳 13th Series: ワ-6 to WA-238. 14th Series: カ-89 to KA-546. 15th Series: ヨ-11 to YO-352. 16th Series: タ-181 to TA-336. 17th Series: レ-6 to RE-476. 18th Series: ソ-66 to SO-654. 19th Series: ツ-198 to TSU-651. 20th Series: ネ-2 to NE-414. 21st Series: ナ-5 to NA-573. Subtotal: 4,200 yearly or 350 monthly. Comment: I arrived at the approximate yearly production by merely adding the high serial number for the 13th to 21st series together. I then divided by 12 to arrive at the monthly production. @Bruce Pennington Feel free to correct and/or update any of the lows or highs.

Thanks for the update and I stand corrected. The entries of interest are to the right of 兼賀 and thus apply to a different swordsmith. Back to square one as to the swordsmith and his era.

Out of curiosity, is the crossguard [tsuba] made of brass? If so, how would they go about darkening it?

It seems there was a gendaitō swordsmith that used the mei 兼賀. An Internet search yielded the following quote that appeared on page 196 from a 1981 book entitled 日本刀銘鑑 [Nihontō meikan], 第3版 [3rd edition], by 本間･薫山 & ‎石井･昌國 [Honma & Ishii]. Does anyone have a copy of this book? Edited the quote to align with the picture provided below.

That one I remember and it was called アルマイト, alumite, or almite. As it fits the theme of this thread, I will post the links below. Type 95 Brass-colored Tsuka - A Discovery! Wikipedia Japanese: アルマイト

Mantetsu Serial Number Ranges 1937 昭和丁丑 None reported. 1938 昭和戊寅 C-17 to C-30. [2 reported] H-14 to H-20. [2 reported] N-1 to N-408. [10 reported] Subtotal: Approximately 480 blades a year or 40 per month. 1939 昭和己卯 N-?? to N-574. [1 reported] V-18 to V-33. [2 reported] W-23 to W-38. [2 reported] 1st Series: イ-376 to I-466. 2nd Series: ロ-75 to RO-270. 3rd Series: ハ-?? to HA-24. 4th Series: ニ-57 to NI-679. 5th Series: ホ-123 to HO-125. Subtotal: 1,800 yearly or 150 monthly. 1940 昭和庚辰 5th Series: ホ-538 to HO-546. 6th Series: ヘ None reported. 7th Series: と-41 to to-729. 8th Series: チ-61 to CHI-356. 9th Series: リ-108 to RI-560. 10th Series: ヌ-182 to NU-608. 11th Series: ル-16 to RU-199. 12th Series: ヲ None reported. Subtotal: 2,400 yearly or 200 monthly.

Some of the early copper-handled Type 95s had brass/gold painted scabbards. See this thread started by @IJASWORDS back in November 2020 for more details. Brass Scabbard NCO Copper Handle Below are two links to another example, serial number 1227, that show remnants of the brass paint. Copper Handle Type 95,low Number 1227 Excellent Condition Coppper Handle Type 95 Nco #1227, Excellent Condition

I think you are correct. The characters then are as below. 雲州住藤原冬廣 = Unshū Jū Fujiwara Fuyuhiro. 雲州 = Izumo Province

I note the machi is slightly offset, possibly because of the design of the habaki?

Mal, I knew you would have the skinny on this hillbilly swordsmtih! Arthur, I found you another Hidetsugu to look at. Other than these two plus yours, I can find no more. Thanks for sharing pictures of a rather hard to find smith. WWII Guntō - My grandfather received this surrendered Japanese sword while serving in WWII.

So what swordsmith is it, Fujiwara Fuyuhiro 藤原冬廣 or Fujiwara Hisahiro 藤原久廣? The second to last character looks like 久 but I do kinda see 冬 as well. @BANGBANGSAN @SteveM