Kiipu

The company logo belongs to 株式會社尚兵館. The company also printed manuals for the army so it is not just a sword company. Below is a link to another reference that gives a slightly different name for the company by adding "gunso" to the name. "Japanese Sword Company Logos of the World War II Era" http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/logo/logo.htm

It does look as if he is carrying a sack! Budai 布袋 (also known as Hotei or Pu-Tai) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai

As always, comments, corrections, criticism, or additions welcomed to this bibliography of military dictionaries. Churchill, A. G. A Dictionary of Military Terms and Expressions: English—Japanese and Japanese—English. 2nd ed. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1902. https://books.google.com/books?id=54ZYdsoU9BMC Motoda, S. [元田･作之進]. War Words: A Dictionary of Military & Naval Words & Phrases. Eigaku Shimpo Sha, 1905. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/843382 Calthrop, E. F. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1907. http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/842833. Calthrop, E. F. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 2nd ed. Maruzen Kabushiki Kaisha, 1909. Yamaguchi, Miki, [山口･造酒] and Yoshitaro Uyeno [上野･義太郎]. An English-Japanese Dictionary of Military and Naval Terms [英和陸海軍兵語辞典]. Meiseikwan, 1910. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/842832 Strong, Geo. V. A Japanese-English Dictionary for Military Translators. Kelly and Walsh, Ltd., 1911. Honjo and Masuda. A New Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 1920. Akashi. A Dictionary of English and Japanese Military and Naval Terms. 1923. Calthrop, E. F., John A. C. Somerville, and K. S. Morgan. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. 3rd ed. Maruzen Company, 1923. Hiraoka, J. [平岡･閏造]. English-Japanese Dictionary of Military Terms [英和兵語辭典]. 兵用圖書, 1931. Creswell, H. T., J. Hiraoka [平岡･閏造], and R. Namba. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. Kaitakusha, 1932. See below for the Word War 2 reprints by country. AU impressions. A. M. F.: 1942. GB impressions. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner: 1942 & 1943. US impressions. University of Chicago Press: 1st 1942-08, 2nd 1942-09, 3rd 1942-11, 4th 1943-12, 5th ?, 6th 1945-06. United States. War Department. Japanese-English Glossary, Technical Communication Terms. TM 30-485. 1943-05-01. https://books.google.com/books?id=rTS4AAAAIAAJ United States. War Department. Japanese Military Dictionary: Japanese-English, English-Japanese. TM 30-541. 1944-08-29. https://books.google.com/books?id=RQD1bMVi-2UC United States. South West Pacific Area. Allied Translator and Interpreter Section. Japanese-English Medical Dictionary. Enemy A.T.I.S. Publication, no. 9. 1945-02-07. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog ... 410080R-bk. United States. Army Service Forces. Office of the Chief of Ordnance. Translation of Japanese Ordnance Markings. August 1945. http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/comp ... 2758/rec/1 (Located at the end of Part 3.) United States. War Department. The Supplementary Japanese-English Dictionary. TM 30-481. 1945-09-05. https://books.google.com/books?id=FChkAAAAMAAJ United States. War Department. Japanese-English Technical Terms Dictionary. TM 30-482. November 1946. https://books.google.com/books?id=jbHP5THxwo0C

So that other translators can duplicate my results, I will briefly explain how I posted the character. I opened a blank MS Word document and selected a Chinese font, in this particular case MingLiU-ExtB, but any traditional Chinese font should work just as well. I then used the Insert-Symbols and scrolled down to radical 177 革 and selected the character ????. Once inserted in the document, just copy and paste into your NMB post. On a related note, check out Nick's latest exposé on this subject. "Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto" http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post2045102/#post2045102

???? I finally found the suspect character ???? in a 1903 dictionary entitled 漢和大字典 and the pronunciation given is shitsu. From there, I was able to locate the meaning in a military dictionary. Shitsu, n. ???? a sheath. Source: Creswell, H. T., J. Hiraoka 平岡閏造, and R. Namba. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. American ed. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1942. Page 1060.

Apparently at least one other Mantetsu sword, serial カ 二二八, has surfaced in recent years with a similar inscription coming via Japan. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey/Study http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/attention-mantetsu-owners-survey-study-715028/ However, at least one collector thinks these type of inscriptions are suspect. Gen. Yamashita's sword and why those Generals' and Colonels' swords are fake http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/gen-yamashitas-sword-why-those-generals-colonels-swords-fake-732422/ All of the above subject to revision by Bruce & JP, Co., Ltd., of course.

Already translated via the link below. Mantetsu help http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/31155-mantetsu-help/

Does anyone know what these characters 金丸 (Kanamaru) mean in regards to the sword below? Same sword, same owner, just different forums. 金丸 Amahide http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9537-amahide/?do=findComment&comment=100523 Swords, swords, anyone have swords ?? https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?20572-Swords-swords-anyone-have-swords&p=151338#post151338

In regards to the sixth character that looks like [革室], the Imperial Japanese Army used this character for scabbard instead of 鞘 (さや). I am unable to locate this character in my references so any additional information about this character is welcomed. Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post2035731/#post2035731 Nick Komiya, 2020-01-13, 03:46 AM

Mantetsu Yearly Serial Number Prefixes 昭和丁丑 1937:　Unknown. 昭和戊寅 1938:　C, N. 昭和己卯 1939:　N, V, W, イ, ロ, ハ, ニ, ホ. 昭和庚辰 1940:　ホ, ヘ, と, チ, リ, ヌ, ル, ヲ. 昭和辛巳 1941:　ワ, カ, ヨ, タ, レ, ソ, ツ, ネ, ナ. 昭和壬午 1942:　ラ, ム, ウ, ヰ, ノ, オ, ク, ヤ. 昭和癸未 1943:　マ, ケ, フ, コ, エ, テ, ア, サ, キ, ユ, メ, ミ, シ, ヱ, ヒ. 昭和甲申 1944:　ヒ, モ, セ, ス, (イ). 昭和乙酉 1945:　い. Purple = English letters. Black = Katakana. Red = Hiragana. Note how similar some of the characters are to one another. For example, ソ and ツ in 1941.

And thank you for giving us a subforum to discuss gunto. I can assure you that I have learned for more than what I have given!

According to the leaflet handed out by the committee, the 将校軍刀鑑査委員会 [Officer Military Sword Inspection Committee] was located inside the 陸軍兵器行政本部 [Army Ordnance Administration Headquarters] building located at 東京市牛込區若松町 [Wakamatsu Town, Ushigome Ward, Tōkyō City]. See frames 5 and 7 of the document linked below. https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C14020933500?IS_KEY_S1=C14020933500&IS_KIND=SimpleSummary&IS_STYLE=eng&IS_TAG_S1=InfoSDU& About half of this document is already translated at the link below. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/family-short-blades-gunto-688110/

The link below is the first one that came to my attention back in September of last year. The serial number is way off according to Pennington's Mantetsu table. Should be dated 1942 and not 1940. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-9?do=findComment&comment=302430

The Kōa Isshin 興亞一心 blades used two different styles of kanji for 亞. The early blades dating from Spring and Fall of 1939 used 亞 and those dating from Winter 1939 and after used 亜. See Ohmura links below. However, the Winter 1942 dated sword linked below is using the early version of 亞 and not the later version of 亜. This is the only exception I have found to date. Does anyone know of any others? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/4407-mantetsu-with-attribution/ 興亞一心 marked blades. 昭和己卯春　W 38. 昭和己卯秋　ハ 二四 [HA 24]. 昭和壬午冬日鷹信焠之　ヤ 二四六 [YA 246]. Ohmura Links http://ohmura-study.net/221.html http://ohmura-study.net/222.html

I had not noticed this and it is an important detail that needs to be looked at. The 1944 dated 満鐵鍛造之 blades appear to be drilled as Type 100s while the 1944 dated 興亜一心 blades are drilled as Type 98s. I think the ヒ HI and モ MO prefixed 満鐵鍛造之 blades are possibly coming via Tokyo Arsenal and have M partial inspection marks. All are hilted as 98s. However, ヒ 一一五五 is drilled as a 100 but fitted as a 98. Possibly more HI and MO blades are drilled as 100s as well. The セ SE and ス SU 満鐵鍛造之 blades were possibly assembled by Nan-Man Arsenal and lack the M partial inspection stamp. All are fitted as 100s. There is only one 興亜一心 blade in all this and it is a セ SE and it can be seen at the link below. Notice the nakago is drilled as a 98. https://popgun.ru/viewtopic.php?f=163&t=830563 Of course, all of the above is subject to revision by Bruce, JP, & Co., Ltd.

I found the post which has even more pictures. civlian katana in military use http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/15735-civlian-katana-in-military-use/

Ohmura Tomoyuki 大村･紀征. Shinsetsu tatakau Nihontō 真説　戦う日本刀 [True Theory, Japanese Sword Fighting]. 2019. http://ohmura-study.net/601.html The contents can be found at the link below. http://www.hiden-shop.jp/SHOP/mb-oom1.html Looks like chapter 5 has a section on Mantetsu. 満鉄刀　～鉄道部品製造技術を活かした高品質刀

While not encountered to date, donated swords were to be marked with an encircled 愛. 愛 = ai = love. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post1954301/#post1954301 The marking above differs from the more common marking of 愛国 as pictured at the link below. 愛国 = aikoku = love of country or patriotism. http://www.castle-thunder.com/model.htm

I have been of the opinion for some months now that Nan-Man Army Arsenal was the one assembling these Mantetsu Type 100 Officer's Contingency Swords. The lack of the M partial inspection mark is the only evidence that would seem to support this opinion at the moment. Some months back, I read over a hundred pages of wartime production records from Nan-Man Arsenal and could find no evidence that they had anything to do with swords prior to 1944. Nan-Man was not even a small arms producing facility for that matter. The easiest sword for them to setup for and start assembling would be the Type 100 and that appears to be what happened.

Just in case one does show up, here is the character 私. The New Nelson number is 4124, page 805. For additional information, see the link below. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/kanji-use-queston-728958/

More information about the 関 stamp can be found at the link below. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5999-arsenal-stamps/page-16?do=findComment&comment=315240 Nakago Reverse Seki 関 stamp followed by either January 1945 昭和二十年一月 or February 1945 昭和二十年二月. I am leaning toward February 1945.

I had to translate this term today and this is what I came up with. Tōcho, n. 刀緒 a sword-knot; sabre-knot. Source: Creswell, H. T., J. Hiraoka 平岡閏造, and R. Namba. A Dictionary of Military Terms: English-Japanese, Japanese-English. American ed. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1942. Page 1160.

Rikugun Toyama gakkō 陸軍戸山学校 [Army Toyama Physical Training School]. Guntō no sōhō oyobi tameshigiri 軍刀の操法及試斬 [Military Sword Handling Techniques and Test Cuttings]. March 1944. https://ndlonline.ndl.go.jp/#!/detail/R300000001-I000000675993-00 The manual above is a compilation and revision of two previous Toyama manuals: 軍刀の操法及試斬 (1940-11) and 短期速成教育軍刀（一撃必殺）訓練要領 (1942-01).

One down, one more to go! Do I detect a master plan at work here? Let me guess, a stamped Masayuki?

As the original link no longer works in the "Star Stamped swords" thread, I have provided the current Ohmura san link below. This page is in both Japanese and English. 造兵刀　Army Arsenal blade http://ohmura-study.net/206.html