John C

This area here to me suggests the crack happened after the mei was chiseled in. But what was the date on the papers? Could someone have dropped the blade after the papers were issued that caused the crack? I wouldn't take a chance on it. John C.

Something a little different. An article about teppo disguised as yatate from Daruma magazine. John C.

Danke, Uwe. I'll look him up. John C.

Hello: This one has me stumped. I can't make sense of the kanji as written (looking at list of mei characters). John C.

John: If you are interested in reading a bit about the other side of Rabaul, The Eternal Zero by Hyakuta has some interesting stories about their time there. John C.

John: It's possible, however these type 95 swords were issued to NCOs; officers carried type 98 (like the one John (pnsshogun) showed above). In addition, these would have had leather tassels rather than silk. Do you happen to remember a leather tassel? It's possible an officer was carrying this sword for some reason, but less likely. The brown goo covering the blade is most likely cosmoline used to preserve the blade. John C.

Dated Temmei 6 (1786) perhaps?? John C.

I hope not... John C.

Amie: The folks who do the translations will be along shortly I'm sure, but to get you started ??? [Inaba??] kuni ju Fujiwara Kanemitsu?? I'm not sure of the first part. Fujiwara would be a title and not a first name, BTW. John C.

Jack: Re: your last question, swords did break in battle. And when this happened, it was much quicker to fashion a shorter blade from the broken bit than to forge a brand new sword. In addition, many swords were family heirlooms, or at least treasured by their owners, and fashioning a tanto from a broken blade would be one way to kep the heirloom functional. John C.

Probably not correct, however google translate has the back of the card as: John C.

Sam: One additional bit of information. If the all-brown tassel is original, it's a definite plus and would add a decent amount to the value. John C.

Warwick: The seki stamp would indicate it is a showa-to; meaning, not a traditionally made blade. Its importance may be related to its story rather than it being a special blade. Here is another example of his work for comparison. John C.

George: Personally, I would use a leather shim/seppa if looseness is the issue. As indicated by the pic, the size of the seppa depends on which side needs to be tightened. They also had different edge designs, which is another consideration if you are looking for authenticity. And each nakago-ana is cut to the sword (re: assembly numbers). Real parts are out there, however they usually command premium prices and there is no guarantee they will fit. You might spend a lot of money trying to get just the right one. Just my two cents. John C.

Steve: There is a Kaneshige listed in Mal's Naval Part 1 document (page 114), however he uses a different kanji for "shige". Also, the originial seller used the wrong kanji in his description. I think he was going for Kaneuji, but not sure. You may need to do some further research on this one. John C.

Jack: I agree with Piers. As an aside, the cherry bark craft used to make the saya is called Kabazaiku and has been around for a long time, however it has become prominent over the last 80 years or so. John C.

Hello Steve: Left column - Inspection mark for uniform depot in Osaka; middle - date (looks like showa 16); right - size medium. Not sure what the cartouche is on the far right. John C.

Just for comparison, here is the mei from my Kanenobu gendaito. 1944 star stamped signed Noshu ju kanenobu. Not sure which is father and which is son. Note: the hamon is similar in style to yours. John C.

...and yet they abound on ebay and other auction sites! Hence the myth. F&G (pg. 108) make a similar observation, noting "...They were probably more symbolic than practical..." The problem over the last few years, however, is how did the myth grow legs? Certainly, the huckster salesmanship style of internet auctions have promoted the myth exponentially. I conversed with one seller who exclaimed "I got the description from [everyones favorite simian] and he knows what he is talking about." But the myth may have grown up from a simple comment in F&G. Just in front of the quote above, the authors note: "Reputedly such dirks were for cutting the jugular before the plane crashed into its target. However they were probably more symbolic than practical since a pilot would require all his skill to operate his machine up to the moment of impact." This comment (reputedly) has no reference or footnotes, and is essentially hearsay. But I suspect folks have read that line and run with it as absolute fact and carte blanche to market any dirk or tanto they find as "kamikaze suicide" dagger, while conveniently ignoring their next sentence. John C.

Interesting that his mother supposedly told him that. Obviously he didn't take her advice! Hakusui Inami was asked in an article (1953?) about suicide daggers. His answer was "Calling a knife a suicide knife is like calling a gun a suicide gun." His point was that the intended purpose of the tanto is not for seppuku, but as a utiltarian tool. Its too bad none of the pictures actually show the pilots receiving (or even holding) the tanto at the time. But it would not surprise me if some units or unit commanders gave their troops tanto or other ceremonial items. There still is no evidence, however, these presentation daggers were for the purpose of "kamikaze suicide." John C.

Calabrese: There have been some very decent "replica" swords made from the 70s and 80s when the demand for Japanese souvenirs started to increase. But I think there is a semantic distinction between replica and fake, meaning it depends on the intent of the seller. Replica swords, like all other replicas, are made to feed a market need, however if one takes these swords and sells/markets them as the real thing, they become "fake." Just my two cents. John C.

Hoshi: I'll echo your humble beginning. My first posted sword elicited a fair amount of banter, eventually being labeled "a turd" by one of the long-time folks. It was a little disheartening, however I still like the sword because it has some unique and not-often seen features. Not bad for a "turd." John C.

Howard: The site seems to confirm what John and Jussi have said. You may already know this, however if you have a mac and visit a site in Japanese, you can go to view -> translate -> English and get a better translation than using AI alone (in most cases). John C.

Thanks, Bruce. It's still in its infancy, however I do have the outline done (been tied up finishing another book edition). As to a separate thread, not sure. The broader category is still about fake auction listings. Maybe a general category on common sword myths? John C.

Lucky, Dee! I personally think you also have a good eye for swords so I'm a bit envious. John C.