John C

Thank you, Trystan. Would you happen to know what specific regs were contained in article 11 (and Clause 2)? @Bruce Pennington Bruce: For your records, note that both stamps (Toku and 2) are on the mune as well. Two is not a pattern but we're getting there. John C.

From a design perspective, why connect the dots at all? Were they concerned no one would "get it" if they just put holes or gold dots? John C.

This is what I was thinking as the most likely scenario. Running out of tamahagane so using "regular" sword steel. John C.

Special attack squadron or not, all the points still apply. Not a sword that would have been carried by military personnel. John C.

Good Idea. I have seen a similar tool using carbide teeth from a saw blade set at an angle. I forget now what it was for. John C.

I wonder if this was the inspiration for putting serial numbers on the habaki seen on many of the fakes. From Ohmura's website John C.

I notice the BBC uses this terminology as well. Neither congress nor the house have voted for recent tariffs. Most Americans do not favor paying what amounts to an extra tax on goods, so we are not in favor of them either. But I do understand that any foreign policy generated by the government is "US" policy, regardless who generated it. It's just my opinion that the actions of a handful of individuals, or even one individual, should be specifically applied to them and not the entire population. John C.

I think you are correct, Bruce. Their use of roman numerals was not conventional. On the habaki I just got, it follows the same pattern: 3 lines [space] a diagonal slash for 5, then 4 lines = 39, which matches the tsuba. John C.

Thank you, Thomas. But do you know the circumstances under which a "special" stamp would be issued? Also, if I may ask another question, the second mark seems to be a "clause 2" acceptance mark. Do you know what that means? John C.

Agreed. I am really at a loss to explain why there are the small nagoya marks but no star stamp. My working theories are: 1) Regular steel and not tamahagane was used (maybe it was in short supply that day) 2) It failed mil specs for some reason (the most important of which was weight, so I'll check) 3) It was sold privately AFTER receiving the arsenal inspector stamps. John C.

They also list "star with toykawa", which I have never seen. John C.

@Bruce Pennington From a current website. There's still so much confusion about the star stamp. https://tokyo-nihonto.com/blogs/nihonto-blog/showato-vs-gendaito-ww2-Japanese-sword-guide? John C.

Not sure what I see, however have we tried to look at the piece as a whole. In other words, not only looking at the design, but also the whole tsuba. Is the roundness of the tsuba or the placement of the ana or the number of ana part of the design? How do the interior elements interact with the exterior ones? John C.

Cleaning...this is where this hobby gets sticky (no pun intended). Wiping with alcohol and oil is all any of us should do to "clean" the blade. It won't get rid of old rust or bring out the hamon, however it will end up stabilizing the current rust so it doesn't do anymore damage. Antique Japanese swords should always be professionally cleaned and polished. There are many reasons for this; the most important being that the Japanese sword relys on geometry for its sharpness. The geometry of the sword is complex and be easily ruined—permanently—by a non-professional. Here's the problem: getting a professional polish is both expensive and time consuming. The average wait time is about two years, I think. The average polish is 2,000 to 3,000 dollars. Most of us do not get our swords polished. Spending 2,000 dollars to polish a 400 dollar sword doesn't make financial sense. BUT, this is your sword so ultimately the decision is yours. Some may have the sword professionally polished just because it's an heirloom. Bottom line: Please consider a professional if you really want to restore the blade. Regards, John C.

Andrew: Nice sword. To keep it from rusting, we recommend not touching the blade with bare hands. To help preserve it, you should wipe it down with rubbing alcohol followed by a VERY light coating of mineral oil. If it came with a wooden scabbard or military mounts, store it in that. Otherwise, there are directions online on how to make a paper scabbard for it. John C.

@Bruce Pennington Here's a slightly better comparison. I think it is a pretty good match. But I defer to you, Thomas, Trystan, and John for final analysis. Could be the first "special" one you have on record, correct? Moving on the assumption this is a special consideration sword, the next question is why? Maybe not made from tamahagane or maybe just too long or heavy (it has some weight to it.) I'll do some measurements. In any case, there has to be some reason it would receive arsenal inspection marks but no star. John C.

Bruce: What about these two stamps? John C.

Now I get a better visual on how these were used. I didn't anticipate the slot in the bottom pieces. But they make sense now that I see them together. John C.

I had the same thoughts with the paper on Kanehide mei. A larger sample size would not yield any new information so it went to print as is. Indeed, I have only found one additional Kanehide blade since then. I think there are still some unanswered questions with the Meiji 25 series, however so please keep an eye out!! John C.

Shaun: I have to agree with Ray. While the sword may be Japanese in origin, a kamikaze pilot would not have been carrying this. The most obvious reason is that there is nothing military about it. Even if it were, it would probably be against regulations to glue crosses to it. John C.

I have seen this done online with a car battery and some copper wire. You probably could do it with your skill sets! John C.

Definately not seki, now that I look at it side by side. Here is a seki stamp on one of my other Kanehide for comparison. John C.

Moriyama-san: Do you think he was a proponent of Emperor Komei (and by his extension the exclusion of Western influence in Japan), or that he just liked the poem? John C.

The "month" is the word "sho", meaning first month (Shogatsu). So in effect, January. He also used sho in January 45. I'm assuming he did that in 43 as well, though I haven't found an example yet. Here are some other pics of stamps from the sword. Really not sure what they are (other than the Na). It's possible the number 39 is there since the tsuba and habaki are marked 39. But the fuchi is marked 8 so just a guess. John C.

Here are some detailed shots of the hamon. A little more flamboyant for Kanehide - and that's with original war-time polish. I should think it would look much better with a current polish. The shot of the straight line of martensite is more typical of his style. The ragged boshi (not sure of the name) is also typical of his style. John C.