Translation assistance with WW2 Oficers Katana

[sabre]

Can anyone help with tang inscriptions on sword,also is it likely to be handmade or machine.

Has a little w stamping also.

Thanks

Looked on net could it be Yoshiharu ? (see pic)

[Stephen]

date is zodiac Showa Kinoe-saru haru or 1944

 

smiths first kanji is Yoshi...? maybe omi?

[Nobody]

I cannot read the 2nd kanji of the smith name.

My best guess is Yoshinobu (義信), though I might be wrong.

[loiner1965]

could it be yoshitani..

i believe it is hand made because it has a zodiac date on and if its yoshitani its quite likely

[Stephen]

Is that from a early F&G

 

he may be from the Yoshichika group

 

Yoshichika Ke (良近)

 

The following smiths are members of the Yoshichika group:

 

1. Yoshichika (良近)

 

1.1. Nidai Yoshichika (良近)

 

1.2. Sukeyuki (介之)

 

1.3. Kiyonosuke (神之助)

 

1.4. Yoshiharu (義治)

 

above from the Tokyo Kindai tosho index

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/tokyosmi.htm

 

also from Hawleys little blue book,

 

Yoshiharu...your kanji.... Tottori Modern Dean Natl. Tech. school Y0 849a

 

big brown YOS 1407

 

still not 100% its haru at the time F&G thought it such.

[loiner1965]

do not have f & g book but please look at page 227

[sabre]

Thanks for your help everyone although it gets more confusing.

Anyhow found the pic with a sword that was for sale on a web site also had the little w mark also.(see pics)

[sabre]

The site was http://www.japanesesword.com, under recently sold items quite a long way down the page.

[loiner1965]

look in the military sword section under w marks on tang as i put a link up for a sword by yoshitani

[sabre]

Looked at Military sword section looks the sword could be by Yoshitani or Yoshiharu.Would a bad signitue indicate a second class smith ?

Also read that the W" stamp was on blades made by Takehisa and Haruhisa ?

[Jean]

Sorry Sabre, but you must sign your posts as per the rule

[sabre]

Ok will do Jean.

 

Mike

[sabre]

Looks like the swordsmith is Yoshitsugu as lanes armoury has a Officers katana with the exact same signiture.

I checked it with them and they said they sent pics to Tokyo to get it identified so i assume it must be correct.

 

Sabre

[cabowen]

I believe this to be Yoshiharu (義治).

 

There were at least two of them that I know of. One early, who was a student of Yoshichika as mentioned above and the other was a smith who ran a sword factory in Tokyo. I met his son once. The factory has long since closed but they had buckets of half finished gunto fittings and other inventory sitting all over the place....They made gunto using modern methods and the swords were not traditional. This looks to be of that variety....

[sabre]

Thats who i thought the swordsmith was in the begining Yoshiharu that is, but my knowledge is little on Japanese swords.

Anyhow any idea what the little w stamping means Chris ?.

 

Sabre

[cabowen]

Thats who i thought the swordsmith was in the begining Yoshiharu that is, but my knowledge is little on Japanese swords.

Anyhow any idea what the little w stamping means Chris ?.

 

Sabre

 

I have seen this w stamp often and seems it is always on factory blades. I assume it is an assembly or acceptance stamp of some sort. Nothing of terrible importance....

[Nihonto Chicken]

FWIW, Here is the mei on my example, which I have been told is Yoshiharu:

 

 

Appears to be the same kanji but in a somewhat different hand than the example given. I note the mekugi ana is in the same position wrt the mei in both cases, chance or not?