John C

Harvey: The marks circled are 4 3, a common way to mark for assembly. Are there similar marks on the edge of the habaki or the numbers 43 on any other fittings? John C.

Brett: I recently saw an episode where a traveler from China was stopped for bringing in beef jerkey! Not sure what the issue was, however he had like 5 pounds of it. Appearently "possession for sale"? John C.

Moriyama-san Speaking of yanone, I've post this before but was unable to have it translated or deciphered. Not sure if you saw it, however are you able to make this out? I really appreciate you taking a look. John C.

Correct, Jean. The term bokuto, more commonly used in Japan, is generally used to describe "Doctor's swords" while bokken, particularly here in the US, is used to described the wooden training swords. John C.

Warrant officer in Manchuria with type 19. John C.

Guess I'll add some of my photos: Two police officers with patrolman swords and Sgt. Tekehira Ogawa with type 32. John C.

Thanks, Jean. I was asking because hyudo does have a meaning - usually Ice house, but can mean things associated with the military. John C.

Matt: What I really like about your pics is that several show ordinary soldiers with wakizashi sized swords as well as a pilot with a regular sized sword. Helps to dispell the myth that a shorter sword is necessarily a "tanker or pilot" sword, as proffered by so many sellers. John C.

Grev: Is one of the circled words a typo or is it this way in the original (the kanji appear to be the same)? John C.

Hello Mindy: I can't read the smith name, however the date is Nov 1943. In addition, it looks like a showato, meaning a decent sword but not of great value. For Japanese sword collectors, I would assume 300-500 euro in that condition. For military collectors, maybe a bit more as a war relic. John C.

My latest crossover piece - a tabako-ire with tsuba, seppa, and kashira as the kanagu. John C.

Mine is a traditional tanto style (foreground). John C.

Scott: I was looking through Daruma Magazine issue 7 and found a similar bokuto "shrimp". So maybe? John C.

Scott: As a bokuto enthusiast (though I do not own many) my guess would be chato or something else. Bokuto could be ornate, however were designed to be at least somewhat protective and possibly fool a potential criminal. I do not think a light fish stuffed in the obi fits those criteria. But really, a bokuto is anything, usually made of wood, that could be used defensively so who knows. John C.

Moriyama-san Is he using one of these two forms of masa? John C.