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.

Steve: The first kanji looks a bit like tsuru, or crane. Are there carved cranes on the piece? John C.

Ron: For what it's worth, I'm also seeing Kanekage. John C.

Indeed. I looked in the "Japanese Art Names" book under metalworkers for Kaneame and he wasn't listed, unfortunately. John C.

Hello Detlev: The longer writing is the date: Showa 17 (1942). The side with just two kanji is the swordsmith Kane + sumi. This would be his art name. Markus Sesko has two listed for the Showa era. I'm guessing that yours is the second one, since your sword is not traditionally made (the first Kanesumi listed was an RJT smith who made traditionally made swords.) John C.