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.

Here are the requested photos. Just for extra, it has steel saya, gold wash tsuba, and some sort of pinkish writing on the tsuka end that I cannot read. Eight seppa, however the numbers on everything are mismatched (tsuba is numbered 39, fuchi is numbered 8). Faint green lacquer/paint of a number on the end of the nakago but unreadable. The color is correct for Kanehide and the Na stamp, however. Tsuka is lacquered Type 98 wrap. John C.

Update: Went to the UPS distribution center (about 30 minutes away). Spoke to the loading supervisor and explained the situation with photos. I got the "let me see what I can do." By the time I got back home, I had recieved a message that "miraculously" the sword was found and will be on its way. Within an hour, a UPS truck pulled up with the sword. Moral of the story I guess is to be persistent and, if possible, go in person to let them know you are serious. John C.

@Bruce Pennington, et al. I can't explain this one. The Kanehide I just got has the typical very small Na stamp on the date side and the mune. The mune also has the small seki stamp. So far so good. Here's the rub. There are also two small marks below the seki stamp (the number 2?). Not sure if it means something other than that. The other issue is that even though the small stamps are present, there is no star stamp. My first thought was that it was ground off. But the yasurime are still where the star would normally be found and not ground off (pic 1). There is, however, what appears to be a faint star shape on the other side of the mekugi ana (pic 2). I am probably just seeing things (like a face in a slice of toast or the cloud game). Plus, I have never seen one in that position. Thoughts? Did not pass inspection (it is very heavy)? Was not made from tamahagane but still hand forged? John C.

As an option, I have used brass rod (1/8th inch or 5/32, I forget now). Easy to shape and can get a nice patina using cupric nitrate, sodium sulfide, and/or liver of sulpher (sulpherated potash). John C.

Here's another. David Hofhine. I've never used him, however he at least posts examples of his work and his rates. http://www.theswordpolisher.com John C.

I'm not sure about that but I will check. I have CCTV so plenty of video evidence of the delivery and pics of the box labels etc. John C.

I don't feel bad for the seller because he still gets his money. I don't think Ebay would help in this case because this was not the seller's fault. The seller shipped it. My local UPS distribution center "mixed up the labels", in other words, an employee stole the sword. How do I know? Because I got a random item with the sword's label but the item shows as "processing". This means the sword box never got the new label and is in the hands of a "scumbag." John C.

Well, they finally got me. I bought a Kanehide gendaito in type 98 mounts dated Shogatsu, 1944. It was dropped off by the seller to UPS. My local UPS distribution center "mixed up the labels" and sent the sword to someone else or just kept it. I got a Cosco fan instead. I assume the sword is gone so just trying to figure out how to get my money back (1750 bucks with shipping and tax). But if anyone sees a Kanehide gendaito with these fittings being auctioned, please give a shout out. Thank you. John C.