John C

I assume so. I was researching souvenir swords (see the bottom sword) when I came across this pic. John C.

Thank you both. I could come up with kore but that was about it. Now that I see it printed, I will give the rest a shot. John C.

Great! Thank you. John C.

Folks: This label was inside a serviceman's bring-back box with two swords. John C.

That's why I am hoping to pull the original document. It may have other useful information about the souvenir swords (e.g. hopefully a description). John C.

@Bruce Pennington do you know how to navigate the National Diet library referenced by @Ian B3HR2UH so we can pull the original document re: Capt. Wall mentioned above? John C.

Hello: I recently purchased Nippon-to by Hakusui Inami. Inside, there was a drawing of a tsuba with kanji as well as some writing on the inside cover (the darker picture). I made a feeble attempt to look up the kanji, but to no avail. To be honest, even after buying dictionaries, Japanese language workbooks, and downloading signatures, I still suck at it. And this is handwriting! I would really appreciate any assistance you could give. John C. p.s. my genealogist wife found that the previous owner of the book was married to Ayako Ichikawa (born Tokyo 1928), but I don't think I see the kanji for that name anywhere.

I suppose it's possible. But I think it would have been odd to mix army and navy parts. Plus the snipped nakago on most of the blades (though not all) leads me to believe these were purpose built. That said, there are blades with normal nakago jiri and signed that I suspect were surplus and used first. Indeed, we are working with the preponderance of the evidence. What we need is a smoking gun! John C.

This is only a guess, however I suspect the Japanese Naval Sword company refers to Tenshozan. This Capt. Wall who made the initial statement probably did not know or had forgotten the name Tenshozan. We would need the original document to confirm. John C.

Douglas: That's interesting. That is only the second one I have seen with Navy kabutogane and menuki. @Bruce Pennington FYI. John C.

I agree. The supplier probably had boxes of these laying around at the end of the war. The souvenir swords were not ordered until 3 months after the end of the war, so they just used existing parts (e.g. the lacquered saya, the Tenshozan blade, the cheap furniture, etc.). John C.

Did type 95s ever come with an iron tsuba? John C.

To me, this makes sense. If the souvenir sword were modeled after an existing sword, a civilian (?) model would be readily available. John C.

JC: Sorry for any confusion. I was trying to follow-up with Bruce's postulate. As far as the existence of a souvenir sword, there is no doubt. The documentation speaks for itself. As to whether or not one could have been carried into battle... I guess nothing is impossible. I can think of one scenario where a soldier might buy a souvenir sword at a PX in 1950 then get sent straight to Korea. Or be in Korea in 1950, go on leave to Tokyo and buy a sword then. I suppose he could then carry the souvenir sword into battle. But that is a lot of "ifs" and frankly not very likely. John C.

I might be misunderstanding this, however I am not sure we can tell anything by the textured kabutogane. I did some quick research and found a few (4 or 5) that were stamped and had textured kabutogane (including mine). I did notice, however, that none of the kabutogane of the 11 I found had sakura leaves. Then again, I only found ones that were stamped. FYI: I had searched for "Toyokawa stamp" and just "kai gunto" and looked at every sword that was a souvenir. Found 10 of them; all being marketed as ww2 navy kai gunto. On a separate though related issue, I think a lot of the confusion over these is perpetuated by what Fuller and Gregory had written (see pic). Would it be possible to contact them (or the publisher) about a book revision? John C.

Ed: I think this post may need to go into the Fake Type 95 NCO thread in the Military Swords forum. Not sure if these pics are already over there. John C.

JC: Not to worry about the kabutogane. It is one of the hallmarks of the souvenir sword. The pic is of mine for reference. John C.

Bruce: I'm getting interested in trying to identify the "mysterious" souvenir dagger. Do you think they could be mentioned in this book? John C.

I would also advise taking a clean, soft rag and rubbing alcohol and wiping the finger prints off of the blade. John C.

Austin: Traditionally, Nihonto are hand forged from a steel called tamahagane, clay applied (which gives the hamon its shape), then water quenched. During the war, the demand for blades necessitated speeding up the process. So for Showato blades, smiths used "mill" steel, machine presses, and oil quenching (which is more reliable and safer for the blade than water quenching). This oil quenching leaves tell-tale signs. What that means in terms of collecting is a difference in "traditional" versus "modern" production techniques. And, a difference in quality and value, in most cases. Some blades during the war were made in the traditional manner. We call these Gendaito (though that is somewhat of a misnomer since it just means "new sword). Many of these can be identified by not only the water quenched hamon, but also the star stamp. The smiths that made these blades we refer to as RJT smiths. These traditionally made, water quenched blades generally carry a higher value than the modern oil quenched versions. John C.

Ed: My vote would be no. From what I can see, the polish is old but the hamon is still visible and the rust does not seem excessive. A polish would cost 70-100 dollars per INCH! If the small nick is only in the hardened area of the blade (e.g. does not go up into the hamon) it is not a fatal flaw and is just part of the history. But it is your sword so you would make that call, of course. John C.

Austin: Some additional info about the blade. The small stamp looks like a Gifu stamp, which would be correct for an Army WW2 blade. The white painted numbers (3, ?, 6, 1) on the tang are assembly numbers and may or may not match the numbers on the rest of the parts (46 in your case). It is good that all of those parts have the same number. The handle, however, looks like it has been recently re-wrapped. Difficult to say without better pics of it. And not sure, but the hamon looks like a classic oil quench to me. This all adds up to a standard Showato from WW2. Probably a type 94 or 98. It would have been carried by an officer. John C.

Thank you. Just in general, the latch idea makes sense. Keep dust, debris, and water out of the scabbard when the sword is drawn. It was the whole river water thing that threw me. John C.

Does it have a star stamp on the nakago? Yes = could be gendaito; no = then probably not (though could still be if done early enough). Also, look for the tell-tale signs of oil quenching (as opposed to water quenching). A thin dark line at the hamon, dark "bursts" coming from the valleys of the hamon, and a lack of any real nie or nioi. John C.

Ed: Just for further information on the stamp, the following excerpt is from Bruce Pennington's Stamp document (which you can find in downloads) John C. Seki stamps are seen in two sizes, 5mm(large) and 3mm(small). The earliest large Seki seen, so far, is 1940, so there are both Showa and Seki stamped blades found in 1940- 1942. The stamp was a commercial one, like the Showa, used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association. In 1943, the large Seki rapidly tapered off. Most dated stamped blades that year bore the “Na” of the Nagoya Army Arsenal. At the same time, the first signs of the small Seki began. The Seki Supervisory Unit of the Nagoya Army Arsenal began using the stamp on accepted blades and used it through the end of the war.