Mike Stevens Posted February 17, 2023 Report Posted February 17, 2023 Good day. I have 2 shin gunto. One has inscriptions on both sides. The other just on one side. I would appreciate any input regarding translation. Thank you very much. Quote
xiayang Posted February 17, 2023 Report Posted February 17, 2023 関住福田祐光 = Seki-jū Fukuda Sukemitsu 國廣 = Kunihiro 昭和十八年十月 = October of Shōwa 18 (1943 CE) 2 2 Quote
Van Posted February 17, 2023 Report Posted February 17, 2023 Numbers in red on the second sword resemble GHQ marks I've seen before, but I'm not a specialist in that field. Maybe somebody can say something more certain about these? Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 17, 2023 Report Posted February 17, 2023 Painted numbers, were fairly sure, were assembly numbers that usually match stamped numbers on all the fittings. Keeps the custom fitted pieces together during the whole process. @Mike Stevens - any small stamps near on either side, or along the back side edge? 1 1 Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 17, 2023 Author Report Posted February 17, 2023 Thank you everyone who have responded so far. The darker handled one has a small mark. It also has some signs of white paint on the side without an inscription. The lighter colored handle one does not have any small marking on it. I have added a few more pictures. Thank you. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 17, 2023 Author Report Posted February 17, 2023 Thank you @xiayang for your translation. Thank you @Vanfor your input. Thank you @Bruce Penningtonfor your information and inquiry. Quote
John C Posted February 18, 2023 Report Posted February 18, 2023 On 2/17/2023 at 11:01 PM, Mike Stevens said: The darker handled one has a small mark. Expand Mike: I believe that is the Seki stamp, which would be correct for a war period blade. John C. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 18, 2023 Author Report Posted February 18, 2023 Thank you @John C, I concur. The other blade that @xiayang translated to read Kunihiro, does not have an arsenal marking. However, it does say October of showa 18 so that would date it also to the wwii era I would presume. On 2/17/2023 at 9:38 AM, Mike Stevens said: Good day. I have 2 shin gunto. One has inscriptions on both sides. The other just on one side. I would appreciate any input regarding translation. Thank you very much. Expand Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 18, 2023 Report Posted February 18, 2023 On 2/18/2023 at 5:53 AM, John C said: Mike: I believe that is the Seki stamp, which would be correct for a war period blade. John C. Expand Yes. The large Seki, used between 1940-1945, with the massive majority of dated blades made in 1942. The Kunihiro with NA stamp fits the norm for Nagoya stamped blades, made in 1943. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 20, 2023 Author Report Posted February 20, 2023 Thank you @Bruce Pennington. Will you be adding my nihonto to your stamp survey? Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 20, 2023 Report Posted February 20, 2023 On 2/20/2023 at 2:20 AM, Mike Stevens said: Will you be adding my nihonto to your stamp survey? Expand Already done, dude! Thanks for your contribution to the database! Quote
Kiipu Posted February 21, 2023 Report Posted February 21, 2023 Red Paint ロ = katakana character RO. 二 = 2. 一 = 1. 九 = 9. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 21, 2023 Author Report Posted February 21, 2023 Thank you very much for that information @Kiipu. Fyi, @Bruce Pennington that number does not match the tosogu. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 21, 2023 Author Report Posted February 21, 2023 All of the tosogu are marked 454. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 21, 2023 Report Posted February 21, 2023 Yes, I see that from time to time. Don’t know why. My assumption is that it had gotten a refit sometime along during the war. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 21, 2023 Author Report Posted February 21, 2023 Here is an image of the white paint on my Seki stamped showato. Maybe someone can make out the numbers. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 21, 2023 Author Report Posted February 21, 2023 All of the tosogu are maked 80. Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 22, 2023 Report Posted February 22, 2023 Mike, The white paint is quite faded but it's something like "61972" or "1972". The modified Roman numberal on the inside of the fuchi is "5111" or "8", and since the rest are marked "80", I'd say it's an 8. There is a discernable half-circle below the hash marks. Could that represent the zero of 80? Interesting! Yet another example of the painted numbers not matching the stamped numbers. Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 22, 2023 Author Report Posted February 22, 2023 The modified Roman numerals in the picture above are on the koiguchi. 1 Quote
John C Posted February 23, 2023 Report Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/22/2023 at 8:18 PM, Mike Stevens said: The modified Roman numerals in the picture above are on the koiguchi. Expand Mike: That's interesting. I have the exact same set-up on a 1944 Kanehide gendaito. All tosogu marked with the number 80 except the koiguchi marked with the roman numeral viii. Painted assembly numbers differ, however. John C. 1 Quote
Mike Stevens Posted February 23, 2023 Author Report Posted February 23, 2023 That is very interesting. Thank you for sharing that information @John C Quote
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