Kiipu

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

http://ohmura-study.net/211.html Bruce, we pay you way too much money for these kinds of mistakes! The sword is dated October 1939. Instead of using a 四, a side-by-side 二 二 is used instead. 昭和十二二年十月日

Two more additions to the original post. Kaigun gijutsu kenkyūjo 海軍技術研究所 [Naval Technical Laboratory]. Bujin-tō no tairyō seisan ni kansuru kenkyū 武人刀の大量生産に関する研究 [Research on Mass Production of Warrior Swords]. 昭和十四年十月 [October 1939]. https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/image/F0000000000000218509 Watanabe Kunio 渡辺国雄. Guntō 軍刀 [Military Sword]. Yūseidō shuppanbu 有精堂出版部, 1944.

The short sword has the plum blossom which is associated with China and Manchukuo.

Stenger-Scott Publishing http://www.stenger-scott.com/#issue/Issue/portrait/1

NLF Gunto Discussion http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/nlf-gunto-discussion-672281/

Without documentation it is hard to tell. Is it a contraction or an inspection mark?

Additions to original post. Ōno Tadashi 大野･正. Gendai tōkō･kinkō･shokkata sōran 現代刀工･金工･職方総覧. [A General Survey of Modern Swordsmiths, Metalworkers, and Artisans]. Seiun shoin 青雲書院, 1977. Murakami Kōsuke 村上･孝介. Shōwa tōken meibutsu chō 昭和刀剣名物帳 [Catalogue of Noted Japanese Swords of the Shōwa Period] Tōkyō 東京: Yūzankaku shuppan 雄山閣出版, 1979. Kishida, Tom トム･岸田. Yasukuni tōshō 靖国刀匠 [Yasukuni Swordsmiths]. Tōkyō 東京: 1994. Banks, Ken. Japanese Pattern Dirks: The Banks Collection. Zor’s Military Antiques, 2011. Fuller, Richard. Japanese Sword Surrender Tags, 103 Fully Translated: Plus Retention Certificates & Surrender Letters. Dreadnought Publishing Co., 2014.

Document Parts 其一　昭和十九年度鍜錬刀軍刀生産計画表 Part 1　1944 Fiscal Year Forged Sword Military Sword Production Plan Table. 鍜錬刀 = tanren-tō = Forged Sword. 其二　昭和十九年度造兵刀軍刀生産計画表 Part 2　1944 Fiscal Year Arsenal Sword Military Sword Production Plan Table. 造兵刀 = zōhei-tō = Arsenal Sword. 其三　昭和十九年度特殊鋼刀軍刀生産計画表 Part 3　1944 Fiscal Year Special Steel Sword Military Sword Production Plan Table. 特殊鋼刀 = tokushukō-tō = Special Steel Sword. Arsenal Abbreviations 東一造 = 東京第一陸軍造兵廠 = Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal. 名造 = 名古屋陸軍造兵廠 = Nagoya Army Arsenal. 大造 = 大阪軍造兵廠 = Ōsaka Army Arsenal. 小造 = 小倉陸軍造兵廠 = Kokura Army Arsenal. 南造 = 南滿陸軍造兵廠 = Nan-Man Army Arsenal.

I thought the stamp was only used by one swordsmith though, a Morimitsu 盛光? As a standalone character, 福 can mean fortune, blessing, luck, or wealth. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/25687-mune-stamp/?do=findComment&comment=279876

福 FUKU Meaning unknown but it does show up twice on nakago mune. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/25687-mune-stamp/?do=findComment&comment=259498 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5999-arsenal-stamps/page-12?do=findComment&comment=279790

It is the full company name for Mantetsu's sword factory and it coming via Ohmura sensei. http://ohmura-study.net/221.html The name breaks down into three parts. Written in the usual Japanese manner of top to bottom. 南満洲鉄道株式会社　South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. (SMR). [More commonly know by its abbreviation of Mantetsu 滿鐵 = 南満洲鉄道株式会社.] 大連鉄道工場　Dairen Tetsudō Kōjō　Dairen Railway Workshop. 刀剣製作所　Tōken Seisaku-jo　Sword Factory. 鐵 = 鉄.

Thank you for the measurement. I will pass it along to the concerned party.

Nan-Man Army Arsenal was transferring to Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal 5,500 semi-finished blades and 500 completed swords. As to who made them, it could be Nan-Man Arsenal, SMR, some other supervised manufacturer, or a combination of the above.

Yes and no. While the document is for Nan-Man Army Arsenal, it includes production from civilian companies under Nan-Man's supervision. In case you are wondering, Nan-Man 南滿 translates as South Manchuria. This means the arsenal can also be called South Manchuria Army Arsenal.

In fiscal year 1945, Nan-Man Army Arsenal 南滿陸軍造兵廠 was planning the production of 10,000 military swords. This comes to about 833 swords per month. The 1945 fiscal year ran from April 1945 to March 1946. Below is a translation of the sword related information. Date 昭二〇、三、一九　兵政本　[abbreviation for 陸軍兵器行政本部] 1945-03-19　Army Ordnance Administration Headquarters Table Header 品目 = item (list of articles) 單位 = unit 整備数量 = maintenance quantity Table Row 軍刀 = guntō = military sword 振 = sword counter 一〇,〇〇〇 = 10,000

Below is the translation of the table rows for the Mantetsu section. See post #372 above for the title and table header. Table Rows Row # 1. 東一造　[abbreviation for 東京第一陸軍造兵廠] = Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal 1. 興亜一心刀軍刀　完成軍刀 = Kōa Isshin-tō Military Sword　Finished Military Swords 2. Blank. 3. 南造　[abbreviation for 南滿陸軍造兵廠] = Nan-Man Army Arsenal 3. 興亜一心刀軍刀　保轉完成軍刀 = Kōa Isshin-tō Military Sword　Finished military swords transferred 4. 仝　保轉半成刀身 = Same [Kōa Isshin-tō Military Sword]　Semi-finished blades transferred 3 & 4. 全数東一造ニ保轉ス = whole amount transferred to Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal. 仝 = 同. 轉 = 転.

There is an interesting discussion about this unusual marking 連工 that appears on some 1944 Mantetsu blades that begins at the link below. I note with interest that the marking is placed toward the bottom of the nakago and not the usual position of inspection marks which is toward the top and above the mei. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-6?do=findComment&comment=281759 If these two characters are a contraction, I would think it would be an abbreviation for the workshop that was making the blades. In this case, 大連鉄道工場. 大連鉄道工場　Dairen Tetsudō Kōjō　Dairen Railway Workshop The full name being 南満洲鉄道株式会社大連鉄道工場刀剣製作所.

I am thinking one of two things happened. One, Tōkyō 1st Arsenal ordered some 興亜一心 blades from SMR in 1942 and Tōkyō 1st had them finished in Japan. Or two, Tōkyō 1st Arsenal gave SMR a contract in fiscal year 1943 and SMR sent some older blades it still had in inventory to meet the monthly production goal. In either case, the powers that be, soon ordered that the army contract blades be marked as 満鐵鍛造之.

Make it three. http://kajiyahiroshi.com/nihonto/gunto/ka038052/token-ka8052.html