Nov 1944 Gunto Identification, Sadamitsu

[MatsumotoKen]

All,

 

I have a sword I bought a few years ago and I have had a devil of a time finding more information about it. It says: "Shōwa 19, November" on one side and "Sadamitsu" on the other.

Who is Sadamitsu? Any information on him? Looks to be a standard late Gunto nothing special. I am thinking that this is a machine made or non traditional sword as the time period makes me suspect it. It came with a brown steel scabbard with one hangar.

Any information would be very helpful.

 

-Ken

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Ken, welcome to the forum. You can find some further information on this smith here:

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

From the thread of John's link:

"(from Markus book):

SADAMITSU (貞光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Ehime – “Sadamitsu” (貞光), family name Matsumoto (松本), jōkō no retsu (Akihide), First Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)"

[Beater]

4 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

From the thread of John's link:

"(from Markus book):

SADAMITSU (貞光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Ehime – “Sadamitsu” (貞光), family name Matsumoto (松本), jōkō no retsu (Akihide), First Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)"

Bruce et al,

 

The earlier thread didn’t really address Eric’s question. Clearly not the famous Gassan family member. The mei and workmanship just isn’t what we would expect. Opinions seem to suggest the previous sword was a Showato, with which I concur.
The Sadamitsu from Markus book, says he is a student of Akihide and achieved a position in the First Seat in 1941. Slough also shows him to be Matsumoto Sadamitsu from Ehime. I am very surprised he was making Showato a couple of years later.

 

If you look in Fuller & Gregory’s list, from Swordsmiths of Japan, 1926-1946 (attached), you will see two Sadamitsu listed with no oshigata or comments for either. There are quite a few smiths who they identified from various sources but about whom little is known. I would suggest this and Eric’s previously posted sword, are by one of these. Just a thought.

 

I also couldn’t help noticing the OP’s name - Matsumotoken and that a smith named 松本 貞光 (Matsumoto Sadamitsu) is in another low-ranking list - 中下作 (CHUGE SAKU). Has the OP already identified his maker? However, this all appears to be at odds with Marcus’s entry…

 

Regards,

Kevin.

[SteveM]

There is another "Matsumoto Sadamitsu" listed in the Chū Saku (Jōkō no retsu) list above the one you posted. This Chu Saku Sadamitsu is the one Markus refers to. 

 

 

The Sadamitsu in the Ge Saku list may be a typo (since it is unusual to see same exact name appearing in two lists - although they are fairly common names). That site was made by Dr. Jinsoo Kim @ashibagou, who occasionally pops in here. Maybe he can help out. Markus also mentions a Kōno Sadamitsu (河野貞光) from Fukuoka so this is another possibility. 

 

I think the scholarship on these smiths has progressed a bit since Fuller and Gregory's time, and their entries for Sadamitsu are so vague that they could all be pointing to the same person. Its also slightly unusual to see them using the old province name (Settsu) for a WW2 smith. Settsu is Osaka, so I kind of feel like this entry is pointing to Gassan Sadamitsu (who was from Osaka). I don't know anything about the Nara Sadamitsu. 

 

I also think its completely normal for all of these WW2 era smiths to be making/inspecting/approving arsenal blades (with the exception of Gassan Sadamitsu). I mean, that was their job, so it would be normal to see an arsenal stamp on a Matsumoto Sadamitsu blade. 

 

Edit: Maybe @mecox has some info on the likelihood of the Sadamitsu in this thread being Matsumoto Sadamitsu, or if there were two such-named smiths, or any other pertinent info.

 

 

 

 

[Kiipu]

The swordsmith Fukuda Zenshirō 福田･善四郎 from Saga Prefecture 佐賀縣 also used Sadamitsu 貞光 as a mei in 1937.  He went by either Hizen no kuni Masamitsu or Hizen no kuni Sadamitsu 肥前国正光又ハ肥前国貞光.  It is doubtful that this is him, but it does show just how many swordsmiths were using the mei of Sadamitsu 貞光.

[Beater]

Appreciate your input Steve. Agreed, much more information available now than the early Fuller & Gregory works, although they get my total respect for the pioneering work they did. Both men helped me no end back in the 80’s.

It would appear there’s a typo / error somewhere. Also, it was indeed Gassan Sadamitsu who I meant as unlikely to be making Showato. 
 

Kind regards,

 

Kevin.

[SteveM]

19 minutes ago, Beater said:

they get my total respect for the pioneering work they did

100% agree. 

And I'm still astonished that some of these smiths, who are contemporaries of my father (and me, sometimes!) remain in relative obscurity. 

[MatsumotoKen]

I just came back from Japan so sorry for the late response. Matsumoto is my last name and I am from Nagasaki.

Thank you all for the insight. Upon further examination it seems to have a 岐 Gifu and 関 seki stamp, though it is faint. This means it is a non-traditional, oil quenched sword. I do not know if that means that it is machine made as well. Does non-traditional also mean machine made?

I hope this adds to this websites database of sorts of gunto swords and can be helpful to others.

If this sword was made in Seki, Gifu-ken then I have been there and have visited the Seki Traditional Sword Smith Museum. I will try to post the swords from that trip on another thread.

 

-Matsumoto C.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

@MatsumotoKen 

Ken, would it be possible to get photos of the Gifu and Na on your blade?  I think I see the Na, but not the Gifu.

 

The classification of "Non-traditional" broadly includes a variety of deviations from the traditional blade.  Here is a good run-down:

 

With the huge shortage of swords during the war, most factories incorporated machines of various types to speed up the sword making process, the hydraulic hammer being one.  But all of the blades were made by people.  

[MatsumotoKen]

The marks are lightly struck, very minuscule and small. First picture is 岐 gifu and the second is 関 seki upside down. According to what I see in other threads, it is normal for them to be struck with a bit more force. Is that abnormal for these marks to be small and lightly struck?

 

- Ken

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Very normal, Ken. In fact, it is unusual to see a fully formed stamp struck on this blades.

 

thanks for the photos! I will add them to the files.

[Guest Simon R]

If it's the Showa Sadamitsu mentioned in this very disturbing interview, then his work was apparently not very good.

"My everyday sword was a Showa sword, a new one with the name Sadamitsu."

(The same link was previously posted on this site but I can't remember by whom - apologies.)

 

http://www.zzwave.com/cmfweb/wiihist/confess/spies.html

[PNSSHOGUN]

That is a good pickup, when first reading it seemed unlikely to be Gassan Sadamitsu. Will need to find the source again, but there was mention of Sue-Bizen Sukesada swords being in high demand for officers as they were no nonsense blades made for fighting. 

 

The book containing that account, and others just as sobering, is "Japan at war: an oral history" (ISBN: 9781565840393), a fantastic book but not for the faint of heart.

 

 

[Guest Simon R]

13 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

That is a good pickup, when first reading it seemed unlikely to be Gassan Sadamitsu. Will need to find the source again, but there was mention of Sue-Bizen Sukesada swords being in high demand for officers as they were no nonsense blades made for fighting. 

 

The book containing that account, and others just as sobering, is "Japan at war: an oral history" (ISBN: 9781565840393), a fantastic book but not for the faint of heart.

 

 

I am such a darned idiot, John.

When I first read that link, I knew that I had seen the account once before; your post above reminded me that I actually had the source material! 
DOH! 🤦🏻‍♂️

[MatsumotoKen]

I appreciate all of the interest in this topic of this lowly Gunto. It is in remarkably good condition, no nicks, so it was probably never used in combat. It has a weird leather ring on the bottom, no tassel. My assumption is that it was most likely a GI bring back. Maybe a surrender sword? That is lost to history. I bought it in Delaware for 500 dollars.

I hope now that anyone that stumbles upon this type of Gunto may learn more. In Japan they are expressly forbidden to own.