BRUNROX

Thank you very much Morita san, Colin, Mark and Stephen. Unfortunately I can not find any information on this smith. I appreciate all your help. Best Regards, mario P.

Greetings! Looks like you are narrowing it down, both of these names appear in Slough's, what would the first two Kanji translate to? Thanks. Regards, Mario P.

Hi Stephen, would it be Masa Hiro ??? Mario P.

Greetings! After a couple of weeks trying to decipher the Kanji symbols on this Mei, I give up. Tried counting strokes, tried John Slough's to see if I could find anything similar, but no luck. So here I am again asking for some help. It happens to be one of the nicest Guntos I've come across ,cosmetically speaking, seems like it never saw battle. The blade has a nice Hamon, and tang does have a Seki stamp. I'm guessing first Kanji is "No" and last one "Saku". Any help given is greatly appreciated. Regards, Mario P.

Greetings! Here are a couple more pics. The blade is machine made, and the Nakago does not say much, just the # 44. I'm glad to know it's scarce and not too common. Best Regards, Mario P.

Thanks Todd , guess it's time to buy more books. I'll post more pics tomorrow. Regards, Mario P.

Greetings all, I found these two Swords together , one is a full size Gunto that is signed ( still trying to translate) and the other one had a tag that said "Boy's Sword" ,comes in military mounts, it is about half the weight of the full size Gunto, blade is longer though at 27",and is not sharpened, tang is not signed and only has the number 44. Saya still has some red paint on it. Overall condition is very good. I have read somewhere that High Ranking Officers when departing for war would give their eldest son a Sword to combat the enemy if an invasion ever ocurred. It is for sure not a "Toy", it is very well made and the fittings and hardware are almost identical to the full size ones, only smaller in scale. I have never seen anything like this and I'm hoping some NMB members can shed some light and share their opinions. Best Regards, Mario P.

Thanks again Toby, I was ready to dismiss this sword as just another WWII mass produced. Not that they are not appealing in their own right, I own about 10, just that a Hand-made Katana has more appeal. I'll clean it up a little with powder and oil and see what else it tells me. Regards, Mario P.

Greetings, I'm not the best at taking pics., even though I have a pretty good camera. I know a scanner is the best but ... I hope these help. Regards, Mario P.

Hello Toby, thanks for the info. I found him listed in this site with first and last name, almost at bottom of page... WWII Japanese Swordsmith Ranking http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... clnk&gl=us Considered a Seki Smith that produced low grade Showato and should not be regarded as Gendaito. If you would still like to see more pics. I'll be glad to post. Best Regards, Mario P.

Thank You very much Morita san, I was way off on the translation. Any idea why there are no stamps if this is a WWII Gunto ? Regards, Mario P.

Greetings All, I have been trying to translate the Kanji on this Sword for a couple of days now with no major luck. The first Kanji is really a puzzle to me since I can find nothing similar in Slough's, the second one I believe it to be "Kawa", the third one "Masa" ?? maybe ?, and the fourth one no clue at all. This sword also came with a tassle. Something that I find interesting is that it has no visible stamps on Tang. Any ideas ? All help is greatly appreciated. Best Regards,Mario P.

Thank you George, it does help a lot. I was not aware of a "Gi" stamp, I will look at it again. Best Regards, Mario P.

Greetings! This is a type 3 that I picked up on a trade and having a difficult time with the translation. Only two Kanji , second one I believe to be "Kiyo" , of course I might be totally wrong. Has a faint Showa stamp and date inscription on other side. All help is appreciated. Best Regards, Mario P. (Two pics, can not upload in one.Sorry.)

All the Luck !! Mario P.

Yes, its identical to that. There are other "W" stamps on the board under Takehisa. Interesting though that Ryuijin claims this to be a Mantetsu stamp , I have read otherwise. Regards, Mario P.

Thanks for the link, very interesting reading. The same site happens to have a Takehisa for sale also, mentioning he was responsible for forging some of the finest Mantetsu swords :? Regards, Mario P. http://ryujinswords.com/takehisa.htm

Greetings All, I have a nice Katana made by Takehisa in 1943 with the "W" stamp on tang, that I have been trying to research now for some time. I know the subject came up in the past on the board, but I found some info on the Web that has me a bit :? Here we have the same blade that sold in Japan, with the registry papers signed 1981. http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:UF ... clnk&gl=us The stamp is present, has not been removed. Is it not that these swords are destroyed if they contain no historical/cultural value ? Would like to know your thoughts. Regards, Mario P.

Very nice Henry, a lot of dedication and time invested in this set up. Congrats ! Regards, Mario P.

Greetings all, I have been drooling for about a week now on this beauty for sale by Komonjo... http://cgi.ebay.com/J471-Japanese-Samur ... 2558703aeb The little I have read rates Kiyomaro as a Top-Rated smith. I have also read some past threads on NMB about his works and style of Mei. After some research I was able to come to the conclusion that this sword is 99% correct. Just for the sake of discussion, what is your opinion ? I have dealt with Mike in the past and he allways deals with top notch merchandise. I just might jump on this one. Regards, Mario P.

Much Thanks, Kanezumi or Kanesada... , the kanji still leaves some doubt as to which one it is for certain. Thanks again Greg, Stephen and Barry. This blade is going up on E-Bay and just wanted to get a little more info on the smith. If you fellow members don't mind I would like to post this information on the listing, and 5% of selling price will go to NMB. If it sells...Best Regards, Mario P.

Greetings ! I am trying to figure out this Mei, first kanji is Oka , second Da , third Kane , fourth ??? , fith Saku. Okada Kane ?? Saku. Has a seki stamp, very nice civilian fittings, nice Hamon. If I'm wrong with any of the transalation feel free to correct me, very new to this. Regards, Mario P. http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac6/ ... ne/005.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac6/ ... ne/004.jpg http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac6/ ... ne/003.jpg

Greetings all, "Hoja firmada" stands for "Signed Blade" ("Hoja" has the double meaning of "Sheet" as in paper, or "Blade" ) I think the seller was not hiding anything in his listing. Sorry. Mario P.

Thank You very much Mr. Moriyama, and Barry I think your kind words for Mr. Moriyama can not be said any better. I was able to find the exact Mei on Mr. Steins site under Showa era Swordsmiths. Thank you for your time and interest. Regards, Mario P.

Thank You BaZZa for your input, I looked at Slough's but could not come up with anything. Stay in touch Regards Mario P.