John C

Joe: Does the Shinkai Daikan show how Inoue Shinkai wrote his dates? John C.

I had trouble in SoCal yesterday and today, which is unusual for me. Had to clear my cache to get the site to load. John C.

Without seeing the blade, there is at least one sign that "points" to it being fake. Look closely at the mei. You'll notice all of the characters have rounded ends on the strokes. This is clearly made by a rotary tool. If you see that, you know immediately it is fake. John C.

A couple of tips for reading dates: * if the number comes before the 10 (+) it is multiplied; after the + it's added. So, 二 (ni) 十 (ju) 三 (san) would be 23. You often see ni ju on swords for 1945. * Sometimes older forms of numbers are used, for example the current number 3 三 and the obsolete number 3 參 * There are also numerous ways of espressing the date, for example Koki ni sen roku hyaku nen indicates year 2600, or 1940; on occasion, you'll see the word sho 正 used to indicate January; you may even see just seasons, usually spring 春 and autumn 秋; and once in a while the Chinese calendar is used. So if you find yourself stuck on a date, try one of these other ways and see if you can get it. John C.

John: Just for your records, here is a breakdown of the kanji. Note that the 1 (ichi) is shaped kind of like a bent arrow. Very typical for mei. John C.

Appears to be January, 1943. There is no day listed. John C. p.s. Not necessarily high ranking officer. Could just be a family with a lot of money.

The fugurine of the lady is wearing a Manchu hairstyle and carrying a water pipe, both popular around mid 19th century. Not sure if it's period or if the style is copied later. John C.

Thank you, B.J. At least I know my thinking isn't going to work. Back to the rote memorization... John C.

Thanks, Mark. Just ordered it! John C.

That was one of the characters that got me interested. Looking at Sesko's stroke count, Kane is 10. But I count more than 10 small strokes on those examples. I was thinking that if I didn't recognize a character, I could count the strokes and go from there. But that only works if they use the same number of strokes regardless of how they actually form the character. John C.

When deciphering a mei that is not written in standard form, but rather in some stylish or abbreviated fashion, do the number of strokes usually stay the same? For example, the 3 pictured are variations of the one in the bottom right corner. Would they all have the same stroke count even though written differently? Thank you for looking, John C.

Not a WW2 blade. POSSIBLY an older family blade. John C.

Not sure about the mei: Kane...toshi (?). 1943. John C.

Rob: I guess you could just define their characteristics: dark, so not recent; triangular shaped, so struck with or against sharp metal object; and located along the shinogi. But other than that, it's anyones guess. John C.

Darren: I can't read the cursive, however the dashes on top of each line is the number 1, meaning "item." And the first kanji on the top right is Ko for small. So if I had to guess, I would say a list of parts? I know it isn't helpful. But wanted to get you started. John C.

Not so much a theory as a consideration. Many yari were made as pikes, not spears. I could see where one would not want their pike to get stuck in armor or a horse during a cavalry charge. So having a blunt tip would make sense. The force of the charge hitting a stationary blade would do the damage. John C.

Bill: I agree with Sam. At least the signature is not correct. I'm fairly sure that does not say Inoue Shinkai. See attached Shinkai mei and compare with yours. Also compare the way he wrote his dates. This one is from 1673. But in any case, it looks gimei. John C.

Matt: I'll give you one possibility. An officer may purchase a blade that was originally designed for an RS/type3/1940 style fittings (hence the two mekugi-ana). But had the type 98 fittings mounted instead, which use only the top mekugi-ana. I have a star-stamped sword that is just the opposite - one mekugi-ana RJT sword in RS mounts. John C. p.s. FYI in cases where a civilian sword were used, the mekugi-ana would be much closer together.

By the way, VERY nice M1941 Johnson. John C.

At least they left their initials carved into the tsuba. John C.

It caught me a few times as well when I was doing research on Kanehide John C.

Bruno: I think the province may be Sekishu, however I can't find anything in the 7 stroke count list that looks similar to the fourth kanji. The last part is a kao. John C.

Here is another discussion on Kikuhide. He was an RJT and made star stamped blades. Check above the Na stamp. John C.

Conway: I believe it's Kikuhide. Note the star shaped strokes in the middle of the first kanji. John C.

Jo James: I don't kantei swords, however I can give you a couple of tips. Note the red line in the first photo. That is the measurement for the nagasa, or cutting edge. The perpendicular green line in the middle is the sori, meaning curvature. That can help determine age or period or school as well. The second pic show a fingerprint on the blade. You'll want to wipe down the blade with rubbing alcohol to remove it. Then oil the blade lightly with mineral oil. John C.