John C

I suppose another question may be does the softer hada of the wak you are looking at have enough room for the horimono you are looking at? I guess that could be adjusted by the carver. In addition, you may run into issues just under the surface carving into a blade with unknown characteristics. Just thinking out loud... John C.

Looks right. You'll notice the tsuka is marked with what looks like a + rather than a - for the one. I have seen this before; probably so they did not confuse the 1 3 with a 4. I have also seen them use the + or x in place of a 0. John C.

Bruno: Not sure if it is the case here, however I know some other smiths would include their age at the time they made the blade. Does that fit in with the date? John C.

Google translate has the top right circled area as "registration number." John C.

Trystan: This is one of the things that made me curious. Typically, it seems, the numbers were not added together - just written down. For 58, I would not expect a bunch of x's added together; instead I would expect just the / for 5 and the /III for 8. Was it common for the numbers to have been added? John C.

Thank you. I'll take a look. Johnn C.

I don't think it is too strange to have the Toyokawa inspection stamp on a Tenshozan factory blade. The army PX contract went through Mr. Yao at Tenshozan, since they were the only factory allowed to continue to "manufacture" blades, however the blades could have still been inspected and assembled at Toyokawa arsenal. We just need more information on how the swords were actually produced. John C.

The cutting of the nakago could just be for the sake of expediency. They may have been under pressure to fulfill the contract so they could not only save time by not finishing the nakago, but also reduce the need to fit the tsuka. That has been my impression as well. Makes sense to use the ones left over then streamline the process to fulfill the contract. John C.

@kissakai Grev: Do you know if any of your tsuba have a small wakizashi sized nakago-ana (21mm x 7mm mune end)? Thanks, John C.

John: How many ww2 Generals' swords were produced (i.e., how many generals were there)? Although I suspect most survived in one form or another, I can't imagine the availability is too great. Just curious, John C.

A follow-up question: Do we know whether or not these swords were left over stock or were manufactured post war? One document mentions "Since these swords were made after the end of the war, however, they are not war trophies." And another document uses the word "manufactured." It is unclear, however, if these documents are referring to the actual manufacturing of the blades themselves or just the assembly of existing blades into swords. Do we have anything definitive on that? John C.

Joel: Just my opinion, however I would get rid of the red paint. I cannot think of any reason a ww2 soldier would have done that (along with the cord wrap) so my guess would be post-war alteration. Island job? Could be, but again not with bright red paint. Getting rid of the paint will allow you to see details and take it back to a more original state. John C.

I think the obvious caveat is that the tassel is so easily removed and replaced. How many of these are original after 78 years? It would be interesting to see some old photos where the tassel color could be identified as part of the survey. John C.

@Bruce Pennington Bruce: I was reading a thread about the four main shops that supplied to the Suikosha navy officer uniform outfitters (Suya, Kobe, Nakano, and Matsuura). Interested in the suppliers, I was looking for the Matsuura mark. So in reading the stamps doc, I noticed a stamp for "Matsu", however no specific stamp for the Matsuura shop. Could they be one and the same? John C.

I noticed the other color and waffled a bit. I eventually settled on shiny dirt but you are probably right (I mean you are correct). John C.

@Bruce Pennington Here is a pic posted by Didier (Yukihiro) a couple of years ago. It looks gunto but has the civilian fuchi and (dirty) brown tassel. John C.

Ha! This one came with a broken wire and stuck sakura screw. Screw was no problem to get out. Someone jammed it in because it is too long. Probably a replacement. I also found it interesting they tried to stamp the 58 as XXX + XX + whatever, rather than just / + /III. John C.

@Bruce Pennington I just acquired a standard naval dirk that has what I believe to be the Nakano Shoten mark (page 44 of the stamps doc) on the guard. But there is a slightly different mark listed on page 9 of the stamps doc from Fuller that indicates it is also found on naval dirks. Could they be the same mark? Under a loupe, mine looks like more like the Nakano Shoten listed on page 44. Just curious. John C.

Bruce: Have you seen the roman numeral system used on naval dirks? I recently purchased a dirk that looks like someone attempted to mark the parts using roman numerals, however the marks look new. John C.

The tassel does not seem to have the same wear and tear as the rest of the fittings. Seems rather clean and un-frayed. Is the fuchi late-war or gunzoku? John C.

Some additional info: the type of star on the front would indicate an enlisted rank. John C.

Rowan: Just my two cents, however I agree with the others. I have the same problem with one of my blades from a 40 year + fingerprint. I have also seen acid from prints and sweat permanently etch a pair of handcuffs! John C.

Unfortunately not. Nihonto is not my main area. But, to my untrained eye, the mei looks a little "loose" - meaning not written in a flowing, confident manner. It's a bit sloppy. Remember, however, that blades and signatures run the gamut from excellent blades that are mumei to really bad blades with big names on them and everything in between. It is a nihonto and it should be preserved. You own a real piece of history; that's the fun part. John C.

Nick: Here is a link to get you started: https://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/about-us.html Ted Tenold would be another. But as Franco said above, the process is expensive - about 70-100 dollars per inch! Personally, I would do more research on the mei first to be reasonably certain it is legit before dropping that much cash on a polish. In the meantime, you can read-up on some of the preservation methods discussed on NMB (i.e., oiling the blade, using uchiko powder over a period of time, etc.). John C.

Ah, thanks. I thought maybe it meant a "tired" blade but it's just the opposite. John C.