Kiipu

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

Does anyone know what size in millimeters these encircled anchors 丸に錨 are? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5999-arsenal-stamps/page-2?do=findComment&comment=57878 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/5999-arsenal-stamps/page-4?do=findComment&comment=81158

Below is the translation of the title and table header for the Mantetsu section that appears on frames 5 and 6 of the JACAR document linked below. Any comments, corrections, or criticism welcomed. https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C12121800700?IS_KEY_S1=c12121800700&IS_KIND=detail&IS_STYLE=eng&IS_TAG_S1=InfoSDU& Title 其四　昭和十九年度興亜一心刀軍刀生産計画表 Part 4　1944 Fiscal Year Kōa Isshin-tō Military Sword Production Plan Table 昭和１９.４.１５　陸軍兵器行政本部　造兵部　造兵課 1944-04-15　Army Ordnance Administration Headquarters　Arsenal Department　Arsenal Section Table Header 01. 廠別 = classified by arsenal. 02. 種別 = classification. 03. 十七年度註文数 = 1942 fiscal year ordered amount. 04. 十八年度完成数 = 1943 fiscal year finished amount. 05. 十九年度繰越数 = 1944 fiscal year carry forward amount. 06. 十九年度数 = 1944 fiscal year amount. 07. 十九年度作業数 = 1944 fiscal year manufacturing amount. 08. 二十年度繰越数 = 1945 fiscal year carry forward amount. 09. 第一期 = first period. 09. 四月 = April. 10. 五月 = May. 11. 六月 = June. 12. 計 = total. [Columns 13 to 24 repeat the pattern in columns 9 to 12 but with different periods and months.] 25. 合計 = sum total. 26. 備考 = remarks. This is the same document that can be found at the links below. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/sword-production-statistics-587234/ http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/very-unusual-konan-essei-mantetsu-713654-post1911277/#post1911277 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-4?do=findComment&comment=275458

I am confused about what sword is being talked about here. The blade depicted at the links below is clearly marked as 昭和辛巳春 1941 Spring. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28095-mantetsu-blade-with-long-inscription/ http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-6?do=findComment&comment=283819 Nakago Reverse 興亜一心　満鐵作之 Nakago Obverse 贈吉林哈爾浜斉々哈爾各鉄道局 昭和辛巳春 Why would it be updated to 1938? Is the serial number C17 coming from some other Mantetsu blade or the one above?

Are you alluding to this document at JACAR? １５．昭和１９年度鍜錬刀軍刀生産計画表　昭和１９年４月１５日　陸軍兵器行政本部　造兵部造兵課 https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C12121800700?IS_KEY_S1=c12121800700&IS_KIND=detail&IS_STYLE=eng&IS_TAG_S1=InfoSDU&

In my post #353, I was referring to Mantetsu 興亜一心 blades with only an M inspection mark on the nakago. These blades may have went to Tōkyō 1st Arsenal as they have a 東 final inspection mark on the kabuto-gane. The Mantetsu that you have does not fit into this pattern as it has additional inspection marks. What kind of reverse markings [omote mei] does your sword have? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-3?do=findComment&comment=271699

Just to make sure, the page you posted is coming from the book below? Shinkyō dai-ni chūgakkō kō-shi henshū iinkai 新京第二中学校校史編集委員会. Shinkyō dai-ni chūgakkō kō-shi 新京第二中學校々史 [school History of Shinkyō No. 2 Middle School]. Tōkyō 東京: 南嶺会事務局, 1980. Page 335.

It does seem with the advent of the 興南一誠 marked swords in 1945, that SMR started the iroha sequence all over again but with hiragana characters instead. No doubt, the army was onboard this time around as previously Nan-Man Arsenal would not mark the swords they finished with the SMR commercial slogan of 興亜一心.

I have no documentation on why the parentheses was used in this situation. It is not something I have encountered before. I do think that the (イ) falls between ス and い. See the example below. 昭和甲申春　ス 二一九 昭和甲申春　(イ) 五五六 昭和甲申春　(イ) 一六四四 昭和乙酉春　い 六二二

I have noticed two of the 1942 dated Mantetsu swords have the combination of a M partial inspection stamp on the nakago and a Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal 東 final inspection mark on the kabuto-gane. I wonder if this holds true for the other 1942 M stamped Mantetsu blades. ウ二〇 昭和壬午春 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29923-wts-w-stamped-koa-isshin-mantetsu/ ヤ一〇四八 昭和壬午秋 http://guns.allzip.org/topic/188/748295.html#p12

As of 2017, Ohmura Tomoyuki 大村紀征 was alive and well. http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/showa-dept-interior-stamp-662590-post1698480/#post1698480

The blade pictures can be found at the link below. Мелкооптовая покупка японцев http://guns.allzip.org/topic/188/774791.html Direct link to the photographs for those that do not want to scroll down the page. Post #25 http://guns.allzip.org/topic/188/774791.html#p25

I have tracked down these pictures of the 興亜一心 満鉄若林重次作之 to a Russian forum from March 2011. There are more pictures and the resolution is much better. Unfortunately, there is no picture of the nakago mune. http://guns.allzip.org/topic/188/774791.html

鈴木虹堂 Suzuki Kōdō http://ohmura-study.net/998.html http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/koa.htm He also wrote a sword book entitled 在满洲日本刀杰作集 in 1937. http://book.kongfz.com/89399/189042365/ Later on, Mr. Suzuki went on to design another sword called the "Tekkon".

Bruce provided the source of the pictures in another thread. Hope this helps with your translation. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/7445-tang-your-opinion/page-1?do=findComment&comment=73318

And another swordsmith that worked at Mantetsu. Hisakatsu http://www.jp-sword.com/files/blade/hisakatsu/hisakatsu.html https://stcroixblades.com/shop/products/Japanese-ww-ii-south-manchurian-railway-sword-hisakatsu-antique-mantetsu/

There is another more recent book that may be of interest as well. Pettersson, Jan. The Yonezawa Matchlock: Mighty Gun of the Uesugi Samurai. 2017. A New Book-Release! http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23913-a-new-book-release/page-1

Sugawa's website. JapaneseWeapons English http://www.xn--u9j370humdba539qcybpym.jp/net/index.htm Japanese http://xn--u9j370humdba539qcybpym.jp/