Kanemichi Gunto

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

 

My main interest is in British swords of the Napoleonic period, but over the years I have also acquired several Japanese swords. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me a bit more about this shin gunto that I own. I believe it to be a special order gendaito made by Kanemichi for Mr Minoru Nokura to commemorate the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbour. The blade doesn't appear to have any stamps. The kanji used for "michi" in the mei is very abbreviated and I think it could easily be something other than "michi". What are your thoughts?

 

I think the hada is mostly running masame with some small areas of itame. Because the blade is in old polish it is very difficult to photograph the detail. The black metal saya also has the symbol for the Imperial Japanese Navy on each side. I haven't been able to find out any information on who Mr Nokura was.

 

Also the Hamachi is chipped, which makes the fittings a little loose on the blade. Is this much of an issue?

 

Also, how can you tell the difference between an oil tempered and a traditional water tempered blade? The hamon on this sword is noi based and I can't really see any obvious nei.

 

Cheers,

Bryce

[george trotter]

Hi Bryce,

Yes you are correct, The inscription commemorated the beginning/start? (not sure of the kanji) of the Tai Hei Yo Sen (The Great Pacific War) in December 1941 (the words "Pearl Harbour" do not appear). It is indeed made for Nokura (not sure of personal name).

The signature is that of Kojima (Tokijiro) Kanemichi who was a Seki smith registered on Oct. 20 1939. He was a student of the famous Seki smith Zenjo Kaneyoshi, Koshima Katsumasa and Watanabe Kanenaga. His early mei was Kanetoki. Born July Meiji 35 (1902). Kanemichi had many students himself and was RJT (army swordsmith). Those fittings are army, but maybe someone altered them to black and added the navy badge?  The blade definitely looks gendaito and definitely looks special order...nice blade.

Hope this helps,

[Bruce Pennington]

Bryce,

 

What a unique piece! Do you know anything of it's travels?

[SteveM]

I think

 

大東亜戦二週年紀念昭和十七年十二月

Daitōasen Nishūnen kinen, Shōwa 17 nen 12 gatsu

Commemoration of the 2nd year of the Pacific War, 1942 December

 

為野倉實氏鍛之

Nokura Minoru-shi no tame ni kore wo kitau

Made for Minoru Nokura

 

Edit: It does indeed look like Minoru is the first name, but I'm not 100% sure. Also, there may be a day noted after the month, but the photo cuts off that last bit.

 

Edited with the right date: Thanks Bruce!

[Baka Gaijin]

Good afternoon all.,

 

The insignia on the saya looks like IJN cap badges have been applied:

 

http://www.icollector.com/WW2-IMPERIAL-Japanese-NAVAL-CAP-BADGE-INSIGNIA_i20293212

[george trotter]

 

I think

 

大東亜戦二週年紀念昭和十七年十二月

Daitōasen Nishūnen kinen, Shōwa 17 nen 12 gatsu

Commemoration of the 2nd year of the Pacific War, 1947 December

 

為野倉實氏鍛之

Nokura Minoru-shi no tame ni kore wo kitau

Made for Minoru Nokura

 

Edit: It does indeed look like Minoru is the first name, but I'm not 100% sure. Also, there may be a day noted after the month, but the photo cuts off that last bit.

 

Oh Yes, Steve has it...sorry, a bit hard to read for my old eyes. Nice to see the shinogi ji under the habaki still has the nagashi lines of the polisher. I always appreciate such details.

Regards,

[vajo]

Hmm, could that read Naokuni Nomura?

There was an Admiral Nomura. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naokuni_Nomura

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Thank you for your replies.

 

Bruce, unfortunately I don't know any more about the sword or how it came to be in Australia.

 

SteveM thank you for that Translation. I was always a little stumped by what the "2nd" represented, given the date on the sword was 8th December 1942, one year after the start of the war.

 

Vajo, the reason I bought this sword was I thought there was a chance it was actually made for Kichisaburo Nomura, a retired admiral who was the Japanese ambassador to the USA at the time of the attack. He returned to Japan in August 1942, so the timing and the naval connection all fitted. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case. From what I understand Nokura is a very rare family name in Japan?

 

Malcolm, they could be IJN cap badges that have been attached to the saya. It seems well done and not something added afterwards, but who knows? Can anyone think of a reason Mr Nokura may have wanted an army sword with a "nod" to the navy?

 

Here is a photo of the whole sword and the missing piece of the date.

 

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Steve, Dude - it's "Showa 17 year 12 month - so, December 1942.

[Peter Bleed]

What an interesting sword. It may take a thousand years, but I am sure that this will be an "important sword."

Peter

[BANGBANGSAN]

 

I think

 

大東亜戦二週年紀念昭和十七年十二月

Daitōasen Nishūnen kinen, Shōwa 17 nen 12 gatsu

Commemoration of the 2nd year of the Pacific War, 1947 December

 

為野倉實氏鍛之

Nokura Minoru-shi no tame ni kore wo kitau

Made for Minoru Nokura

 

Edit: It does indeed look like Minoru is the first name, but I'm not 100% sure. Also, there may be a day noted after the month, but the photo cuts off that last bit.

 

looks like 十二月八日

[SteveM]

Thanks for the correction, Bruce! I edited my post with the right date. 

 

Regarding the name Nokura, according to the site below, it is the 6752nd most common name in Japan, shared by approximately 1400 people, which makes it kind of rare. 

 

https://myoji-yurai.net/searchResult.htm?myojiKanji=%E9%87%8E%E5%80%89

 

The kanji themselves are very common, and are often seen as parts of other last names. I myself, knew someone named Nokura, so to me it doesn't feel super unusual. Its not a name that would one would look twice at, or would make you run for the dictionary to try to figure out how to pronounce. 

[george trotter]

looks like 十二月八r

Yes, Trystan is correct...it is 8th day of December 1942. The anniversary of the attack in 1941.

The raid on Pearl Harbour is always Dec. 7 in the "British-Australian world", but the international date-line makes it Dec 8 in USA-Japan, so that date given is the exact "2nd" date of the attack since the attack....but we would say the first anniversary of Pearl Harbour.attack...so, interesting sword inscription.

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Does anyone have any ideas about how I can find out more information about Mr Nokura? Google hasn't been any help so far.

Cheers,

Bryce