WWII sword hilt translation

[WWII sword tang]

[WWII sword tang]

28 minutes ago, WWII sword tang said:

Any help in translating this will be appreciated. 

[Nicholas]

The sword is signed Daigo. A WW2 swordsmith. See here 

[John C]

@Bruce Pennington two dots on the nakago jiri

 

John C.

[John C]

5 hours ago, WWII sword tang said:

Any help in translating this will be appreciated. 

J. p.s. - the date is Showa 19 (1944).

 

John C.

[Bruce Pennington]

15 hours ago, John C said:

@Bruce Pennington two dots on the nakago jiri

 

John C.

Thanks John!  Didn't have any from that smith before.  It also has a VERY faintly struck large Seki just above the mei.  I had 3 on file from 1944, so pretty rare.

[Kiipu]

Sorry to be a pest, but what characters are used in the mei and what is the most likely reading?

昭和十九年秋 1944 Autumn.

[Kiipu]

Maybe 大豪 Daigō?

[SteveM]

Yes, Daigo. Nicholas got it above in his post on the 10th. 

[Kiipu]

On 12/10/2023 at 8:45 AM, WWII sword tang said:

Any help in translating this will be appreciated. 

 

Ramberg san, can you post an overall picture of the sword with the scabbard placed below the blade.  Also, is there any numbers stamped on any of the parts?

 

On 12/11/2023 at 5:54 AM, Bruce Pennington said:

It also has a VERY faintly struck large Seki just above the mei.

 

Not sure about that.  It looks more like 二 二 to me.  Maybe even some type of clamp markings?

[Bruce Pennington]

16 hours ago, Kiipu said:

Not sure about that.  It looks more like 二 二 to me.  Maybe even some type of clamp markings?

Right, I'm not sure either.  Seki stamps are usually above the ana, not below, and are mostly angled rather than vertical.  It's more than 二 二, though.  I have seen a couple of Seki stamps that looked like they were hand crafted rather than stamps.  I haven't filed them in a way that I could find them, or I'd post examples.

 

 

Yet, you could still be right about it being a clamp mark or some sort.

[WWII sword tang]

Bruce,

I dropped the resolution on the next 6 photos. Hopefully they will transfer.

John

[WWII sword tang]

[WWII sword tang]

[WWII sword tang]

[John C]

John:

I don't think that red tassel is original to that sword. You could probably carefully remove it if you want the sword in a more original condition. The tassel would have most likely looked like the one below (blue and brown for company officer grade or red and brown for field grade).

 

John C.

 

[Kiipu]

Definitely a Seki 関 stamp.  Another Gifu Prefecture swordsmith update for Mal & Co., Ltd.

[WWII sword tang]

John C.,

I have heard stories about courtesan’s bell pulls used as officer’s tassels to fool the GI’s into believing they were getting a General’s sword. Unfortunately I don’t have much information as to how this sword was obtained. Thanks for the info

[mecox]

Appears to be  大豪 Daigō with a variation of a Seki stamp? and a rather late date of 昭和十九年秋 1944 aki (autumn) which puts it Sept-Nov 1944.

He is not in the Seki registration lists, and I cant find other info.   Does this suggest he works in an arsenal or commercial workshop?

I note the tsuba is a variation of the typical pattern.

 

 

 

[Kiipu]

I think so.  It was obviously a large operation to still have old blade stock about as the Seki stamp had been dropped by then.  This could imply the blades were inspected prior to the mei?

 

The fittings are typical of those used in 1944 on donated blades and maybe this applies to commercial production as well.  Seki dropped the metal scabbards and switched to wooden ones.  However, some of the military contract Type 100s were still using steel until 1945.

 

The Seki guild list only goes to about September 1944.  So our mutual friend Daigō dates to sometime after that?

[Bruce Pennington]

15 hours ago, Kiipu said:

It was obviously a large operation to still have old blade stock about as the Seki stamp had been dropped by then.  This could imply the blades were inspected prior to the mei?

Interesting idea, Thomas.  Might explain why the large stamp is seen all the way into 1945 (1).  The guild seems to have replaced the stamp from 1943-'45 with the Gifu-in-sakura stamp after Nagoya hijacked the seki.  My assumption was that the large Seki stamps were still lying around and got picked up randomly, or even a particular inspector, maybe in a more remote location, was still using his when the rest of the inspectors had transitioned to the Gifu.  But your idea is worth throwing into the mix for sure!

 

 

I have 5 1944 blades, and 1 '45, with the large Seki Stamp: