Kanenobu gendaito

[Leen]

This morning I visited a man, whose father brought back this sword from Indonesia after WW2.

There is lots of study to do and its hard to see the hamon, because the blade has lots of tiny scratches. I really like this one nonetheless. I do however wonder what the character(s) on the nakago mune mean.

 

[David Flynn]

Signed Tachi Mei.

[DoTanuki yokai]

The signature looks like „ChoShu Ju KaneMichi“  but I’m not sure about the Michi. 
Is there a stamp above the date where the habaki sits? 
 

Date is Showa 17 (1942)

 

[Kiipu]

The marking on the nakago mune is the katakana character HO ホ.  It is a factory inspection mark used by the 1st Factory of Kokura Army Arsenal 小倉陸軍造兵廠第一製造所.

 

[Leen]

The mei reads Noshu Ju Kanenobu, It appears not to be a stamp just staining where the Habaki sits Christian

 

[Kiipu]

Leen, I put together a table showing all of these army sword inspection stamps and it is included in Bruce's little missive.

Stamps of the Japanese Sword

[DoTanuki yokai]

Ahh I see, have you also translate the full date, I don’t recognize the last 3 kanji  

Would the stamp on the Mune  mean this is not a Traditional blade ? 

[Kiipu]

There could be a second inspection mark on the nakago mune above the ホ under the grime or rust.  If so, it would probably be a 名 for Nagoya Arsenal.

 

Christian, this is what I see 昭和十七年仲春 for the date.

[Leen]

Christian, this stamp/ sign on the Nakago mune does not mean it is not traditional to my knowledge.

 

 

[Bruno]

12 hours ago, Leen said:

this stamp/ sign on the Nakago mune

Leen, I believe I have a similar stamp on my star stamped Mitsunobu (Kanenobu's student). 

[Bruno]

12 hours ago, Leen said:

a stamp just staining where the Habaki sits

My RJT Mitsunobu has also a tiny (Seki) stamp near the habaki

[Bruce Pennington]

@Leen, The last character on the date is "Spring", so it was "Spring 1942".  Kanenobu became an RJT smith, likely after this blade was made (from lack of star-stamp).  The program had only just begun at this time, so he must have gotten qualified sometime later.  You will often see inspection stamps on the mune, like this, on star-stamped gendaito, so it does not mean the blade is non-traditional.  Your small stamp above the "HO" in the corrosion does look like a "Na", like Thomas said.  I have a few other gendaito with this combination on file, all between 1940 - 1942.  They seem to stop after '42.

 

@Bruno - I don't think I have your Mitsunobu on file, can I get a photo of the date and full mei, please? The small stamp on the mune is a Seki stamp, too.

 

 

[Bruno]

36 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

can I get a photo of the date and full mei, please?

Here you are Bruce and a big thank you for all your work on stamps.

[Leen]

Also love your work on stamps Bruce, furthermore I am convinced my Kanenobu is a traditional blade. It is Impossible to see from these pictures but it has an abundance of nie.

 

[SteveM]

Just curious, do any of the parts have the same number that is on the tang?

[Bruno]

1 hour ago, SteveM said:

do any of the parts have the same number that is on the tang?

In my case, I cannot tell as the Mitsunobu sadly has no Gunto koshirae, "only" a shirasaya.

[Leen]

On my sword all sepa and the tsuba are numbered 26, so not the same as the painted number on the Nakago