Type 3 sword help

[Butch]

Picked up

a type 3 Star stamped sword yesterday blade is in bad polish ..

mounts are in good condition will post pics later ..

Just wondering if any one could help with the name on the tang ?

mounts are not stamped but back of tang stamped with a number and a mark ..

Thanks Gareth 

[Butch]

Pic2

[Butch]

I noticed on this one that it as one screw head each side on the handle ...

On all my type 3 there are differences in the quality of the mounts and saya’s

[Ljoconnor]

Very nice group of swords. Condition is great!

[BANGBANGSAN]

7 hours ago, Butch said:

Picked up

a type 3 Star stamped sword yesterday blade is in bad polish ..

mounts are in good condition will post pics later ..

Just wondering if any one could help with the name on the tang ?

mounts are not stamped but back of tang stamped with a number and a mark ..

Thanks Gareth 

 

瑞峯造 Zuiho Made
癸未四月（1943 April)

[Butch]

Many thanks for your help ..

Gareth 

[Bruce Pennington]

1 hour ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

癸未四月（1943 April)

Trystan, thanks for the date, there was no way I was going to break that one down!  I've probably forgotten, but how does this translate to 1943?

 

@Butch - Zuiho is one of those few RJT, star blade, smiths that aren't found on any of the RJT smith lists.  I have 2 others on file from him, a Mar '43 and an Aug '43, both posted by @tbonesullivan - speaking of which - do either of yours have stamps on the nakago mune?  I know the Mar '43 has "169" stamped right under the star, but I don't have photos of the mune on either blade.  Anything there?

 

Gorgeous gunto, Gareth!

[Butch]

Bruce no only stamped on the back of the tang ...

what does the stamping mean Bruce ?

Thanks Gareth 

[BANGBANGSAN]

17 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Trystan, thanks for the date, there was no way I was going to break that one down!  I've probably forgotten, but how does this translate to 1943?

 

 

Bruce

It use the same Chinese Lunar year as Mantetsu，just without 昭和。So，really is 昭和癸未春 Showa 18th years（四月）

[Bruce Pennington]

Just now, Butch said:

only stamped on the back of the tang ...

Sorry Gareth, I was try to see if David, @tbonesullivan, could check his 2 blades for mune stampes

 

So, for now, all we know for sure is the "阪 or Saka" is the inspector stamp of the Osaka Army Arsenal.  I don't have enough blades with this stamp to form a more firm opinion of the numbers, but so far, they are only being seen on RJT blades and Nagamitsu blades.  Nagamitsu is an oddball because many of his blades on file aren't star-stamped, even though he was an RJT qualified smith.  It's certainly possible his blades were being accepted by Osaka before he became RJT qualified, or another option is that something about his blades did not meet RJT specifications, but they were still acceptable as an Army blade for the war. 

 

But the numbers are still a mystery.  I think the Arsenal was putting them there, but I don't know if they were tracking numbers of blades by smith, or just numbering blades for the day as they arrived, regardless of smith name.

[BANGBANGSAN]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Sorry Gareth, I was try to see if David, @tbonesullivan, could check his 2 blades for mune stampes

 

.  Nagamitsu is an oddball because many of his blades on file aren't star-stamped, even though he was an RJT qualified smith.  It's certainly possible his blades were being accepted by Osaka before he became RJT qualified, or another option is that something about his blades did not meet RJT specifications, but they were still acceptable as an Army blade for the war. 

 

 

I don't recall seeing any of Nagamitsu and Emura's swords have Star stamps. Those blades were made by many training smiths under the name of 長光 and 江村, some are better than the others, the quality may vary ,maybe because of that, the Army does not supply them Tamahagane. So, even the swords were traditionally made Gendaito ，it still can't receive the Amry star stamp since not using 玉鋼。

[IJASWORDS]

Bruce, here is another undocumented Star Stamped RJT smith, MASAHARU. The only Mune stamp is a 9. 

[Butch]

Thank you for all your help and comments ..

[Bruce Pennington]

7 hours ago, IJASWORDS said:

MASAHARU. The only Mune stamp is a 9.

Your blade is the only Masaharu I have on file, too.  I had logged the number as a "6".  After thinking about it, usually, the numbers are read with the blade pointing to the left.  Is your blade pointed left?  If so, I'll change that 6 to a 9.

[Bruno]

Gareth,

 

May you please post a closer shot of your 4 aligned tsuka please?

[tbonesullivan]

On 3/27/2022 at 4:57 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Trystan, thanks for the date, there was no way I was going to break that one down!  I've probably forgotten, but how does this translate to 1943?

 

@Butch - Zuiho is one of those few RJT, star blade, smiths that aren't found on any of the RJT smith lists.  I have 2 others on file from him, a Mar '43 and an Aug '43, both posted by @tbonesullivan - speaking of which - do either of yours have stamps on the nakago mune?  I know the Mar '43 has "169" stamped right under the star, but I don't have photos of the mune on either blade.  Anything there?

 

Gorgeous gunto, Gareth!

 

Unfortunately I didn't check the one ZUIHO Type 3 RJT Shin-Gunto I had before it got sold. It's unfortunately long gone, along with two others, one by NAGAMITSU and one by KATSUKIYO. I didn't get to check those for stamps on the mune either.

 

However, I do have one by HIDEMINE, who is apparently the son of ZUIHO, and that is marked 67 on the mune of the tang.

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

16 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

marked 67 on the mune of the tang.

Thanks David.  I have those photos on that linked thread, but there's not one of the number.  Any chance of getting one of the number?

[tbonesullivan]

On 4/4/2022 at 5:15 PM, Bruce Pennington said:

Thanks David.  I have those photos on that linked thread, but there's not one of the number.  Any chance of getting one of the number?

These are the photos of the Hidemine that I looked at.

MEI: 秀 峯 造 之 - HIDEMINE TSUKURU KORE

NENGO: 昭 和 甲 申 夏 - SHOWA KINOE-SARU (1944) NATSU (SUMMER)

[Bruce Pennington]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:03 AM, tbonesullivan said:

Hidemine

Thanks David!  That's a new one for the files!