Help with mei on beat up Type 98

[JustinJustin]

Hello-

 

I just picked up a sadly quite rough ?type 98 and would appreciate any help with interpreting the nakago. I tried my best and believe it is Showa-July 1936?? for the date but likely am way off. The length from tip to tail is 35” and sadly the blade is a bit pitted and oxidized. I did lightly clean with alcohol and oil but that’s as good as she gets. The fittings seem nice but are missing the Tsuba and have considerable patina. Let me know what additional questions you have. 
 

kindly,

 

Justin

 

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[JustinJustin]

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Justin, the smith name is "Kanemitsu - 兼光", there is other Kanji near the Habaki area which may have been added by the officer. The condition isn't completely terrible, looking at the Hamon and lack of arsenal stamps....very likely Gendaito. There were quite a few Gendai smiths under the name "Kanemitsu", you can search through them here and see which one is a good match to your Mei: http://www.jp-sword.com/files/seki/gendaito.html    (CTRL+F Kanemitsu)

[BANGBANGSAN]

昭和十七年 1942
Smith 兼光 Kanemitsu
Owner 岡田 Okada

[ROKUJURO]

I think I see a faint SEKI arsenal stamp just below the OKADA name, but the blade looks traditionally made. 

[JustinJustin]

You guys rock! Thank you so much! I will see if I can narrow down Kanemitsu and find a match. Will keep you posted-

 

Justin

[JustinJustin]

Good eye! I took a better pic and it does look like a seki arsenal stamp. I know this has been hashed out here before but does this automatically make this blade showato or can it still be gendaito or is it something in between?

 

Thanks,

 

Justin

[PNSSHOGUN]

The stamp does mean it is non-traditional. In this case there may have been one or more aspects of the forging process not considered traditional, resulting in it receiving the Seki stamp.

[Bruce Pennington]

@JustinJustin - Looks like you were trying to show us a mark on the back edge of the tang?  Can you enhance that photo?  Are there any punch-marks dots near the end of the nakago?  Any numbers at the end?

 

There was an RJT Kanemitsu but the blades I have on file are later, like 1944.  I realize there were often several smiths working during the war that used the same art name, so this guy might not be the RJT Kanemitsu.  Just worth checking for the other markings.

 

Like John said, I have found that the blades stamped with the large Seki stamp, like yours, are quite often really nice blades with great hamon.  Maybe they used another steel other than tamahagane, which put them in the "non-traditional" showato category, but they all have the appearance of being made traditionally.

[Bruno]

I have a RJT star stamp gendaiti By a Seki smith, and it does have a small Seki stamp.

 

It is comon on Seki gendaito to have the tiny Seki stamp. 

 

I think there is a difference in meaning between the standard Seki stamp and the tiny one. 

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 4/1/2022 at 12:49 PM, Bruno said:

I think there is a difference in meaning between the standard Seki stamp and the tiny one. 

Expand  

There was.  The large Seki stamp was used by the Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Association to mark quality showato.  They can be found from 1940 to '45, but the massive majority of them are seen in 1942.  The Army took control of sword production and oversight in '42, and the Nagoya Army Arsenal inspectors began using the small Seki stamp.  For a long time, it has been believed that all acceptance stamps indicated the blades was non-traditional, but we have seen many acceptance stamps, to include the small Seki, on RJT star-stamped blades.  So, it's evidence that the arsenal inspector stamps are more likely simply acceptance stamps approving them for the war.

[JustinJustin]

Good morning! Once again thank you to everyone for their help and input. It’s interesting how much history can be gleaned from one orphaned sword. 
 

The photo of the back of the tang was specifically to show that there are no stamps or markings. I did however reevaluate and I see no other punch marks, dates, dots or other markings elsewhere on the nakago except as already seen. 
 

please see additional pictures. 
 

Kindly,

 

Justin

[JustinJustin]

[MarcoUdin]

Looks like there is a 3 at the top of the nakagomune, hard to see but I'm pretty sure it's there. 

[JustinJustin]

I totally see the area in that photo that looks like a 3 but I’m not so certain. I’ll attach a manipulated close up from the area—but I suppose it could just be worn away. 
 

Kindly,

 

Justin

[MarcoUdin]

Doing it on my phone but it looks like it's here.

 

[JustinJustin]

Hello-

 

I took some better pictures with natural light outside. I know that in the one photo it looks to be a 3 but I’m just not so sure. Anyways I appreciate all of the input and help. 
 

Kindly,

 

Justin

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks for working this over for me, guys!  Nothing definitive.  I've had several blades where I was convinced of stamps, but it turned out to be creative corrosion, and my eye seeing something I wanted to be there.

 

Great sword, thanks again!