Dents In The Nakago Of My Showato- Are They Significant?

[Sugiyama]

So as the subject suggests, on the mune of the nakago of my recently acquired Showato, I found a group of three little dents. I became curious because one of the other Showato I had been considering purchasing also had a group of three dents on the nakago, only difference being the dents were on the shinogi-ji portion. I also found another Showato, with what appears to be two dents in the mune portion. I've done some looking and can't find anything about if these bear any significance anywhere. I posted this inquiry to the SBG forum with no luck, and later asked reddit user and resident nihonto enthusiast /u/gabedamien, who directed me here. So I guess my question is are these dents indicative of something, and if so, what is it?

 

Pics of the dents:

http://i.imgur.com/zXWrz9m.jpg My Showato

http://i.imgur.com/pIPV2to.jpg Other Example 1

http://i.imgur.com/IOBXAr3.jpg Other Example 2 (may just be staining? Hard to tell)

 

Any and all help is appreciated!

 

Thanks,

Sugi

[Geraint]

Dear Sugi.

This is only a suggestion as I have no evidence to back this up but they would seem to me to be an easy identifier for the smith, or perhaps the craftsmen assembling the sword in its koshirae.  We often find painted assembly numbers on sword tangs, perhaps these are an alternative?  This theory would gain weight if the fittings on your sword were stamped with the number 3 but even if not the marks may be a way for the bladesmith to keep track of his work.

 

All the best.

[Sugiyama]

There is something written on the top of the tsuka. I'll post a picture of it later. Would it help to know this and the third example are both Hiromitsu, type 3 guntos?

[Death-Ace]

I've wondered about this too. I've also seen cuts ( normally three on the right side of the katana mei right in the edge in the middle or 3/4 the way down). This was on both showato and gendaito, if I can recall. Wonder if this was for the same reason?

[Sugiyama]

Do you have any pictures? Do they appear similar to the ones in mine?

[Brian]

Lots of markings (dents, cuts, notches etc) on nakago. I suspect they are there to aid in assembling or identification by the smith. Maybe he made a few at the same time, and needed to identify each one. or they are to aid in matching with selected fittings. Can't mean much more than that.

[george trotter]

One gunto smith who used small triangular marks etc was Mano Masayasu. I think some more types are mentioned in our own Military Swords section on Stamps.

I think they are just a personal ID mark for assembly purposes as has been mentioned. You could also try the links to Rich Stein's Showa Oshigata site.

Regards,