Kiipu

Typo in database. ケ731 and not KU731-S. ケ = katakana KE. https://japanesesword.com/archived-pages/2017/7/28/mantetsu-to-in-34-pattern-shin-gunto-mounts-hit-in-the-fuchi-by-bullet Post #217 Is this one missing from the database? http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-8?do=findComment&comment=293774

Post #36. The second sword pictured is different from all the others in that the katakana character イ is in parentheses (イ). This detail is important and needs to be recorded as such in the database. (イ) 1644 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-2?do=findComment&comment=270357 Post #141 And another one! (イ) 556 http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-5?do=findComment&comment=279859

Post #14 The katakana character is YA and not SE. ヤ 72. According to your table, this would date to 1942, possibly autumn. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-1?do=findComment&comment=264433

To insert hiragana and katakana characters in Microsoft Word documents. Open a MS Word document and click on the "INSERT" tab in the menu bar. Go to the far right and locate the Symbols box in the toolbar and click “Symbol”. From the drop down menu, click “More Symbols…”. A window should open called "Symbol", it should open in the Symbols tab. On the top left side you should see "Font", type in MS Mincho and press the Enter key [or one can use the drop down menu and scroll down and select it]. On the top right hand side of the Window you will find a box called "Subset". Click on the drop down menu until you find "Hiragana" or "Katakana" and click on the one desired. Hover you mouse over the character you want and click it. The box should turn blue. In the lower right corner of the window, click "Insert". The character should appear in your document. You can also cut and paste this character from your MS Word document into your NMB posts as well. Enjoy as this is the easy part! Wait until one starts inserting kanji.

Is this 1945 Mantetsu number い 622? い = Hiragana i. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26165-attention-mantetsu-owners-a-survey/page-9?do=findComment&comment=302139

Japanese army ordnance usually used the iroha (いろは) poem ordering system and not the gojūon system for subassembly numbers. They would start with イ1 and go up to イ999. After that, they would start with ロ1 and then go up to ロ999. After using all the katakana characters in the iroha poem, they would switch over to hiragana characters and start all over again! This back and forth between katakana and hiragana would continue until production ended. iroha = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroha gojūon = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gojūon What I find most interesting about your recent Mantetsu 3.0 update is that the 1939 swords appear to be following the iroha order! I would suggest reexamining your data in light of this and see what happens. See below for the iroha order starting with 1939 and going into 1940. The seasons appear to match up so far. 1939 イ 376-S イ 466-S ロ 75-S ニ 190-A ニ 675-W ホ 123-W 1940 ホ 538-S ト 41-S ト 374-S ト 450-S ト 630-S ト 729-S

Guilty as charged! Katakana for Thomas.

Type 95 guntō blades will have a final inspection mark applied either before or after the serial number. This final inspection mark indicates that the blade passed inspection. Below is a list of the known inspection marks encountered on Type 95 blades. 東 = Supervisory Section of Tōkyō Arsenal (1932-1940) & Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal (1940-1945). 名 = Supervisory Section of Nagoya Army Arsenal. 関 = Seki Supervisory Unit of Nagoya Army Arsenal. ヘ = Heijō Factory of Jinsen Arsenal.

The Heijō Factory of Jinsen Army Arsenal (仁川陸軍造兵廠平城製造所) also made Type 95 Military Swords (九五式軍刀) in 1945. The Heijō Factory was located in Pyongyang, Korea. These swords do not have arsenal symbols but they do have the Heijo inspection mark ヘ stamped in several locations. Production was scheduled to begin in April 1945 with 100 swords, May with 400 swords, June with 1000 swords, and 1500 swords per month thereafter. These swords were initially serialized with just five digits with an unknown marking preceding the serial number. On most of the swords observed, this unknown marking is overstamped with a 3. Apparently production began before the assignment of the 300,000 serial number range by Army Ordnance Administration Headquarters (陸軍兵器行政本部). The serial numbers recorded to date are 00562, 301000, 301304, 301710, 301754, 301911. Serial number 301911 began as 301011 but the second 0 was overstamped with a 9. For additional information, see pages 200-205 of Jim Dawson's book, Swords of Imperial Japan, 1868–1945, cyclopedia edition, 2007.

By Dalian Railway Stamp, do you mean the South Manchuria Railway (SMR) company logo? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Manchurian_Railway

Does anybody own a Mizuno made Type 95? If so, what is the blade serial number and inspection mark?

九五式軍刀仮制式制定の件 Authorizing provisional standard for Model 95 saber Go to https://www.jacar.go.jp/english/index.html. Cut and paste in search box: C01001386400 And enjoy!

Now that is a lot of Suya bits and pieces!

United States. Watertown Arsenal. "The Metallurgical Examination of a Japanese Samurai Sword." By J. I. Bluhm. Memorandum Report No. WAL 739/87. 1946-09-25. This is a direct link to a PDF file. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/b962712.pdf

This Iijima Type 95, serial 156372東, is the highest serial number reported in the Kokura/Tōkyō 1st Arsenal serial number range. Unlike the one posted above, it shows no changes from previous Iijima made Type 95s. http://www.guntoartswords.com/010956.html Iijima = Iijima Sword Workshop 飯島刀劍製作所 Iijima Tōken Seisaku-jo

This is a miscellaneous thread for Type 95 Military Swords (九五式軍刀 kyūjūgo-shiki guntō). A place to post bits and pieces related just to Type 95s. This is the highest serial number from Suya, 155374東. This is the only Suya that I know of that has no blade fuller. https://collectorsmilitaria.com/a_rare_wwii_japanese_nco_sword_with_no_groove_061812.htm Suya = Suya Shop Co., Ltd. 株式會社壽屋商店 KK Suya Shōten

Mr. Slough's Oshigata book http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/8417-mrsloughs-oshigata-book/?hl=%2Bmorita+%2Bslough&do=findComment&comment=84612

There appear to be three versions of Slough's oshigata book out and about. I am missing the publication details for two of them. Any help with the last two appreciated. The original edition is listed below. Slough, John Scott. An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths, 1868–1945. Rivanna River Company, 2001. There is a second softcover version with a red cover with the name Livio W. Cillo on the cover and title page. This may have been the distributor or publisher of the book? Cillo, Livio W. An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths, 1868–1945. Publication details unknown, 2001? The third one is a second printing with a deluxe blue hardcover that is dated 2004. Slough, John Scott. An Oshigata Book of Modern Japanese Swordsmiths, 1868–1945. Publication details unknown, 2004. Edit: Found a post that Chuck Cillo may have co-authored the book?

The thought occurred to me that you should check the waist size of the belt. Japanese doughboys were small in stature but big in fighting spirit. My two cents at least.

If Japanese, I agree.

IJN = Imperial Japanese Navy.

Do you by chance have a picture of the overall view? If so, I would like to see it. If not, was it more or less a standard looking army Type 94/98 style guntō?

I thought it would be a good idea to post some links to other Japanese sword related bibliographies. Feel free to chime in with others. http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/books.htm https://nihontoclub.com/biblio http://ohmura-study.net/501.html http://kendo-wollongong.com/biblio.htm (Annotated) http://www.hizento.net/biblio.htm http://www.meiboku.info/guide/books/

Koop, Albert J., and Hogitarō Inada. Japanese Names and How to Read Them: A Manual for Art-Collectors and Students. London: 1923. https://archive.org/details/japanesenameshow00koopuoft

Kurihara Hikosaburō Akihide zenkiroku: Nihontō o nido yomigaeraseta otoko 栗原彦三郎昭秀全記録: 日本刀を二度蘇らせた男 [A Complete Record of Kurihara Hikosaburō Akihide: The Man Who Twice Saved the Japanese Sword]. Kurihara Hikosaburō denki kankō-kai 栗原彦三郎伝記刊行会, 2000. Japanese language. An English language summary can be found at http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b721-kurihara-hikosaburo-akihide-zen-kiroku.