Mark

i am no expert on these. That being said i have been involved with swords for 30 years. I have seen hundreds of these swords and bought and sold dozens. My opinion is these are late war Navy of some type, NCO, cadet, or similar. There are just too many that are made the same way to be "put together". They come from Vet's and vet's families that brought them back. They are certainly lower quality than the early Navy swords but i see a lot of low quality late war army swords. Just my opinion

Yoshimasa -- Showa 14th year 8th month 1939

Steven, As Ray says other than the date column (which is different on all papers based on the date they were issued) the rest is the same. The date is easy to work out

does this help? http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sword_papers.html#japanese_sword_5

I was waiting until Tampa was over to post a message. But thanks Derek for the nudge. The show is April 29 - May 1, 2016 If you are staying at the Hyatt here is a link for reservations https://aws.passkey.com/event/13928013/owner/4631/home Free parking at the hotel so it is easy for locals to attend Tables were sold out but i had a person who can't come this year so if you need one let me know http://www.chicagoswordshow.com/contact-table-info/ There are a number of people with tables who have not set up in years so there should be a lot of fresh items to be found. There will be a lot of people attending who are in the midwest and do not get to Tampa or SF. If you have questions or there is anything i can do to make your visit easier let me know Thanks Mark

ok. sorry did not realize language barrier,

as Barry said Tadakuni, and from Hizen province, if you use that as a place to start i bet you can work out the rest

i thought Echizen Kuni, i liked Jeans ideas of looking,

thank you Morita-san. Makes sense as i could not find anything that matched

not sure i understand, the only thing in the kantei box is the date and points, i think Ray listed the date

In this thread http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18525-shipping-europe-to-the-us/ I had commented "As Grey noted same' can be an issue, If shirasaya so can horn parts (trim or mekugi), also note any ivory parts on shirasaya are a big problem, be careful I have had some major issues with Fish and Game recently and they wanted to confiscate a nice gendaito I had mailed" A friend of mine had imported a large amount of militaria (6 figure value) and it included one European sword with ivory scales on the handle, it was a nightmare. They are serious, and not only importing, my issue was exporting, i was sending a gunto out of the U.S. My understanding from dealing with them is the regulations have been on the books for a long time, but a year or so ago they decided to start enforcing them. I had no idea this was an issue till i had the problem. I think they are just getting started.

Hamfish, The other thread seemed to have maybe 3 comments about the sword then it changed into a discussion of other examples and if they were rare or not, did not seem to be discussing the sword. If i have something i am comfortable with putting a price on (like the star stamped blades i listed here) i am happy to offer to NMB but with this it is hard to know a value, maybe it is worth less, maybe more so i figure an auction will set a price. If a NMB wins i will work out something with them and offer a discount. Buyer had change of mind, i always offer return, for any reason

listed for less than $1 with no reserve, i figure if enough people see it the market will arrive at a fair value

the sword that was originally discussed was mine. I relisted it but started this thread to announce it http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18921-sword-we-discussed-list-on-ebay/ as it is on eBay so thought it belonged in that category.

I listed a sword on eBay check out http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/252305714206? This sword was discussed in this thread http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18749-did-any-member-buy-this/ prior sale did not go through, but i was not unhappy as i think it is was missed by people last time.

David Hard to read the writing but i think it says Den Echizen ... Shigetaka Kanbun period (1660) bit harder reading it sideways ha-ha

no date. no star stamp, that would have given me a lead. will try and get some pics when i am home

George, thanks! Fittings are plain wood saya, army tsuba and tsuka has plain brass f/k, seem low end or late. The blade is covered with dirt and sciffed, the temper is a small chogi gunome, looking i would say it is clearly hand made

I have a katana, at first quick glance i thought it was a fake, but looking closely it is certainly Japanese WWII era. The mei is in 2 parts, kanji above the mekugi ana and 2 below, i thought the maker is maybe Yoshi___? but not even sure about that. Any help appreciated. Thanks!

looks like Katsumitsu. not much to say, there were dozens, maybe 100's of smiths using that name, would need a close examination to make any accurate estimations. There were a lot of makers using that name in Bizen in the 1500's.

i think it is the Yoshi kanji below (from a book, different smith same kanji), it is not common but you see it at times. I do not know how to put the kanji in the text here so just posted the picture EDIT : i see Joe beat me to it

i would suggest Yoshishige. Sword looks ok, Not early so quality was lower at times

Alton, post some pictures, we may be able to add some additional observations

can Peter reply and let us know what happened and the results?

2 shaku 5 sun is close to 30".... maybe the bag is for a different sword, a 30" unsigned sword