Kiipu

I think the eyelet is for a lanyard. It this case, it would go around the wrist.

Stephen, that is one of the rare ones. It was made by Mizuno and only a few were made before production was stopped. Has anyone come across this Stamp before?? @BANGBANGSAN, @Bruce Pennington, @Shamsy, @Stegel

It will not be possible to identify what this marking means unless one can find an old advertisement that depicts it. The character itself can mean center, middle, medium or inside, interior, midway. As one can see, it is a fairly generic character all by itself. It is unlikely to be a logo without some other design element around it.

Ah, I see the mustache is back in the news again! I thought Stegel identified that as being Bruce's logo? More research needs to be done to find out just how old Bruce really is.

濃州住亮信 = Nōshū jū Akinobu (a.k.a. Sukenobu). Mino Province

昭和十八年春 = 1943 Spring.

Your sword was made by the South Manchuria Railway Company (SMR). It is also referred to as a Mantetsu sword. 昭和甲申春 = Spring 1944. 満鐵鍛造之 = SMR forged this. Below is a link to an article about your Mantetsu sword. Mantetsu - South Manchurian Railway

@Lareon Thanks for looking and the lack of nakago mune markings is nothing to worry about. In this case, the star stamp is the one and only final acceptance marking. Cross-Reference A Kanemitus made in the same time frame as the ones under discussion. Kanemitsu

@Lareon Does the 尾州住竹内兼光 marked blade have any markings on the nakago mune?

The production date is September 1944 according to the text over at YouTube. This places production after 118 and 247. The serial number is actually three digits long. The second tang hole went right through the middle digit and all that remains is 2X4. WW2 Japanese Type 3 Shin Gunto made by Takeuchi Kanemitsu, 1944

The one I downloaded came from the thread Any help would be appreciated . Here is another one for the database that comes from Hot Stamp .

Thanks Trystan! You just got to love those variants I suppose. As an aside, Nick chimed in with "奢 stands for 奢侈品 meaning luxury goods." I am closing the book on this translation. Please forward all complaints to @Bruce Pennington. Sorry Bruce, I just had to do it.

To learn more about the second tag that you linked to above, see Nick's article about price control tags. War time labeling of Civilian Goods

Wow! Thanks for the quick results. The top encircled kanji character seems to be a variant of 奢 [luxury or extravagant]. @BANGBANGSAN feel free to chime in!

Seems these have come up before. Below is a link to 35926, close to 35914 that Trystan mentioned. Type95 Looks Real But I'm Not Sure

Does anyone have a better picture of this price control label? I am having a hard time deciphering the encircled kanji character. Row 1: Unknown encircled kanji character. Row 2: X革製品 = X kawaseihin = leather goods. Row 3: 特免品 = tokumen-hin = special exemption. Row 4: 大阪府 = Ōsaka-fu = Ōsaka Metropolitan Prefecture. Nick thinks the X could be 牛 which would mean cowhide. 免 = 免

Yes, that is the one I am remembering. I think that is the same as the one below. Mantetsu Suriage Or Wak? Edit: The same sword was also discussed earlier in this thread. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey, Page 4

There is one Mantetsu with both the SMR logo & Kōa Isshin 興亞一心 slogan. The Kōa Isshin slogan was introduced by Matsuoka Yōsuke 松岡洋右 in March 1939. Matsuoka was at the time the president of the South Manchuria Railway Company so there was not much anyone could say about the matter. However, the Imperial Japanese Army had different ideas, not to say regulations to boot, and the slogan was dropped on contract blades starting in 1943! Yōsuke Matsuoka

Thanks Chris, I still remember your excellent post about the merits of the Type 100 [1940] versus the Type 98 [1938]. It was and still is an excellent summary of the advantages of the new design, whatever one decides to call it! For those that are lost and meandering in the wastelands of NMB, here is the quote and the link. Timeline Type 3 Gunto

You can read all about it at the mistitled thread below. The thread covers the introduction of the Type 94, 98, & 100. Introduction of the Type 94 Gunto

Thanks Bruce. Below is the translation of the tang for your records. Obverse: 龍宇作　1301 = Ryū’u saku, serial number 1301. Reverse: 昭和十七年五月 = May 1942. I have revised the post above about observed Type 100 serial number ranges to include serial number 1301.

Below is the translation. Obverse: 昭和十七年五月　1220 = May 1942, serial number 1220. Reverse: 群馬今井兼継 = Gunma Imai Kanetsugu.

The initial Type 100 swords appear to have been serialized as follows. Starless Type 100s, serial number range 106 to 798, dated July 1941 to January 1942, serial number is upside-down. Starless Type 100s, serial number range 1129 to 1301, dated April 1942 to May 1942, normal serial number. ☆ [star] stamped Type 100s, serial number range 1525 to 2128, dated August 1942 to April 1943. It seems that the serialization switched to the prefecture system after this date. Do you have nakago pictures of the "Ryuu" dated May 1942, serial number 1301?

Nick Komiya answered my inquiry about the associations and elaborated a bit more than I expected. It is well worth the read for those interested in the RJT "Star" program. Rikugun Jumei Tosho (RJT) Star Stamped Blades - Documentation?,Post #54

@Haerveu If the sword is still available, I would like to see pictures of the fittings. @BANGBANGSAN I have three recorded now. As always, I will keep my eyes open for more examples so that this illusive character can be properly identified.