Help identifying (and possibly dating) sword

[Will_S]

Hello!  I posted about this sword on another website and it was recommended to post here.  I've been told that it is a Toyokawa Naval Arsenal sword per the anchor mark and that it's from Inaba.

Could anyone confirm that, and possibly assist with translating any additional information?  

 

https://imgur.com/a/bztfFr9

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Will, the information is correct but Inaba is the swordsmith, not the location. The sword pattern is 1937 Kai Gunto. If you search Inaba along with "Kai Gunto" or "navy sword" on the forums there will be plenty of information.

[Bruce Pennington]

Posting photos for posterity.

 

Will,

Your kai is interesting for a couple of reasons.  It's got a custom saya, can't tell from the out-of-focus pic, but likely ray skin.  So the owner paid extra for that.  Also the stamps on the seppa and tsuba are an unknown maker.  There is a kanji like that, but these are backward, or mirror of how it is written.  So, we don't know who made them.  By the lacquered material under the wrap (maybe fabric?), I'd put this in the last couple of years of the war.  Lacquered rayskin was the norm for these, but in the last year, the military changes their mil specs to discourage the use of skins and move to artificial materials.

 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Will,

Are there any numbers stamped on the nakago (tang)?  The other one like this I have on files has numbers.

[mecox]

Yes it is Inaba, see Naval Swords NMB Downloads page 90 +

[Kiipu]

Looking at the pictures I have of the anchor stamp, I noticed that there are two sizes.  One is large and the other is small.  Yours is the small one.  Can you measure the outside diameter in millimeters for me?

 

The subassembly number is オ841.  The prefix is the katakana character O.

[Will_S]

  On 9/7/2021 at 1:18 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Will,

Are there any numbers stamped on the nakago (tang)?  The other one like this I have on files has numbers.

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Thank you very much for your help with my sword!  I took an additional picture of the other side of the tang for you, though I'm not sure if will be helpful.

 

 

  On 9/7/2021 at 3:10 PM, Kiipu said:

Looking at the pictures I have of the anchor stamp, I noticed that there are two sizes.  One is large and the other is small.  Yours is the small one.  Can you measure the outside diameter in millimeters for me?

 

The subassembly number is オ841.  The prefix is the katakana character O.

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Hello Kiipu, thank you for your assistance!  The diameter of the circle around the anchor is roughly 4 millimeters.