Kiipu

Thank you Barry for the prompt reply. I will list the sword as just "October 1943." The characters on the pictured tang are 天照山鍛錬場鍛之 and as already indicated in post #2 it was made by Tenshōzan 天照山. The earliest date I have seen is 1938 and the latest is the one listed above. The swords made after 1943 appear to be undated.

Just do a search using "Tenshozan" and they will show up along with a few others. It should yield about two pages of which there are many repeats. Good luck!

Barry, did you by chance get a picture of the date? This is the highest date I have run into so far on a Tenshōzan 天照山.

Ed Hicks, is this blade dated by chance? If so, and still at hand, what is the date?

Bruce, you must not be looking very hard! I have the following Tenshōzan dates, all coming from NMB. At some point, the blade dating seems to have stopped? 1939-04 No anchor via NMB. 1939-08 Anchor via NMB. 1942-02 No anchor via NMB. 1943-05 Anchor via NMB. All others undated.

The translation of the blade markings are below. 東京砲兵工廠 = Tōkyō Artillery Arsenal. 明治十九年製 = Made in 1886.

One of the three Meiji-era Japanese Army short swords and it can be found in Dawson's book. This version is just dated and has no crossguard serial number.

I just recently tracked that sword down and here is a link to it. RAREST Unknown type pattern of the late war 1944 Japanese NCO Sword My initial thoughts when seeing the "Island Sword" was that it fell into the late war category as per the link below. Was the sword acquired in Australia or from some other country? last ditch naval rinji?

Below is a link to my naval zig-zag tassel inquiry and Nick's reply to it. Launch documentation for the 1937 introduction of the new Navy Gunto (Posts #30 to #32) I thought to myself what if someone dyed an army general tassel brown? Would it not give the appearance as is seen here? I realize this is rather far fetched but should be taken into consideration and the tassel should be carefully examined to rule this possibility out.

An interesting find and a sharp eye to boot. Do you have any other information on the sword, such as a mei or date? It looks to be army judging by the fittings.

The third and final citation. Citation information is taken from the title page and hence Cillo is listed as the author. Presumably this is the third printing even though it is not stated as such. Cillo, Livio W. An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths, 1868–1945. Darlington, MD: Livio W. (Chuck) Cillo, 2001. [Third printing?, red softcover, back cover has $99.95 in lower right corner.] The copyright page can be found at the link below. An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths 1868-1945

I am of the opinion that the swords linked below could be the final variation made by Mantetsu during the war. This is based upon the one known serial number and the style of fittings used. The only known serial number follows after the previous recorded Mantetsu serial numbers. The fittings on the final variation are identical to the fittings used by Mantetsu on the swords made for the army in 1944. Any comments, corrections, or constructive criticism welcomed. Mumei with unknown nakago mune markings. Late War Army Officer Sword Mumei with い 一一七〇 nakago mune markings. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey (Post #470) Mumei with Japanese numbers on the nakago mune. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey (Post # 488)

This is where I downloaded the picture in my files. It was posted back in 2015. Possibly this is one of the sources of the picture. Arsenal Stamps.

Since posting, I have learned that the word leatherette could just mean "fake leather." Artificial leather However, in the context of World War II, the 2014 post could also be referring to what is called presstoff (also preßstoff or pressstoff). Presstoff The Japanese developed a saya (scabbard) cover made out of paper during the war too. Pressed-paper Saya Cover Hopefully, BangBangSan will also look into what the Chinese character(s) are and see if something like this was used in China during Word War II.

The source of the second picture can be found at the same 2014 GBF thread above. See post #7 by Stegel. Direct link below. Late War Shin Gunto, or post war tourist copy???

I have a question in regards to these emergency 應 swords. It has to do with the saya (scabbard) cover material used on them. I found a 2014 GBF post that referred to it as "leatherette." Is this an accurate description of the composition? Late War Shin Gunto, or post war tourist copy???

A picture is worth a thousand words. So I will say no more! See picture EBEFC4F6-A0ED-469F-A4EC-1521C9405178_1520120213480. Pawn Shop Find-Japanese WWI-WWII Parade Sword?

A slightly different stamp but since it is so similar in appearance I will post it here. It is the stamp closest to the habaki. The second stamp, the one closest to the blade tip, is an encircled 應. The stamp is struck at an angle and thus partially obscured. The outer circle is faint but it can be seen. WOII Katana. Help discovering if Authentic and what type See picture 2 in post #24 by Stegel.

Just to complete the record, the sword sold for US$1600.00 on 2021-01-09.

Two more for Bruce to ponder in his leisure hours. Help needed to decide on WW2 Japanese Naval Kai Gunto sword

A question that arises is the time period in which these swords were manufactured. On 1938-07-05, a mekugi 目釘 was added to the tsuka 柄 yet these swords still only have a hatome neji 鳩目ねじ [see note below]. This would seem to indicate production took place right about the time of the change in mid-1938. 5809 = hatome neji only. 5847 = hatome neji only. 5875 = hatome neji only. 6320 = hatome neji only. 6444 = hatome neji only. ============================== 6787 = hatome neji and mekugi [aluminium tsuka]. 7118 = hatome neji and mekugi [aluminium tsuka]. ditto = and all those that follow after. Note: The hatome neji 鳩目ねじ can be translated into over twenty different English names. For example, a grommet screw in the US or a grummet screw in the UK. Another is barrel screw. Feel free to substitute another English name for the part. All that matters is that the Japanese called them a hatome neji 鳩目ねじ. 鳩目 = literally means eyelet. ねじ = screw [have also seen it spelled ねぢ].

Here is the link for serial number 5809. Japanese NCO Sword found in the TRASH!

And another encircled anchor. What about this one? Late war IJN sword.

Here is a big encircled anchor stamp. It is on a single hanger naval sword. Is this the late war one or the postwar one? new Japanese navy sword

I am flagging this Type 95 reproduction because of the nakago markings. Samurai sword - part two