Wartime women sword polishing

[mecox]

Interesting photo from 1944 at Shimane Sword Corp, Matsue, Shimane in NW Honshu. (banner:  Shimane Token Kabushiki Gaisha).  Looks to be 14 young women polishing, perhaps all with the same grade of stone.

A male supervisor at left.   Do not know if related but the Hitachi Steel Works that produced sword iron with Yasuki iron sands was in the same region. [photo from Facebook page of Yoshihiko Usuki, togishi of Koto-ku, Tokyo]

Later comments from Japan suggest they are high school girls. 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Mal,

Don't know if your intent for the thread is specific to that forge, or for all "women sword polishing" photos.  If it is focused on that shop, let me know and I'll edit and delete.

 

Here are the photos I've filed, but I don't know the shops they were working:

 

 

We also have a diary entry from a school girl who was polishing blades at the Nanman Army Arsenal.

[mecox]

Bruce, not specific it was just a general post for interest.

[Guest Simon R]

I think it's an absolutely fascinating topic! Thank you to both of you, Mal and Bruce.

[mecox]

@Bruce Pennington  @Kiipu 

 Bruce

That’s a very interesting post of the extract of memoir of a school student.  I note that you, Kiipu and Morita san have discussed it June/Sept 2019.  As I understand it it’s a 1980 book published in Tokyo, and refers to Shinkyo No.2 Middle School.  Did that student do volunteer work in Manchuria (seems unlikely late in the war?)  or possibly worked on Mantetsu in Kanagawa? 

A rough translation of your post follows….. the memory of a student in Manchuria.  There is info on swords made there and polished by the student.   It includes sword ID nos……but maybe you have all that in your records?

Firstly I am not sure if this is by girl or boy.

It reports work over recent 6 months in the Nanman Army Arsenal (southern Manchuria?) which included military swords.  “Swords I polished were…….”

Mantetsu tan tsukuru kore (Showa kou saru haru:  year of Monkey, 1944, spring).

Katakana “se”  セ:    2596, 2767, 1251, 1225, 1293.     “su” ス: 18, 273.

Koanan-issei (presumably Koa isshin Mantetsu) (Showa otsu tori haru: year of rooster, 1945, spring)

Hiragana い:  67, 90, 213, 289, 449.

The student’s comments are:  two days before graduation I left to join the Kai Miho Kaigunn Koukutai (navy airforce?) as a trainee pilot.  The train departed Shin Kyoeki station (is this in Tokyo?) on Showa 20 (1945) March 22.  It appears he/she would be the 16^th enrolment in Kaigun Koushu as a trainee pilot. A comment is this is repeating what was done by the 3^rd enrolment 30 years before (1915?).

Dont know if Ive got this correct or not, but it looks a very interesting aspect. 

[Bruce Pennington]

5 hours ago, mecox said:

Koanan-issei (presumably Koa isshin Mantetsu)

 

5 hours ago, mecox said:

I left to join the Kai Miho Kaigunn Koukutai (navy airforce?) as a trainee pilot. 

Mal,

"Koanan-issei" is a unique slogan change in the 1945 blades.  It's something like "Good luck in the South" and we only have 1 gunto on file with the actual inscription.  According to Nick, both Koa Isshin and Koanan Issei were popular marketing slogans during the war that SMR picked up for their blades.

 

As to the student, I realize I had just been assuming the dairy was from a girl.  I hear "diary" and I think "girl."  So, it's got to be a guy, then.  Now it's out of place with your topic, but I'm glad I posted it or I'd still be thinking it was a boy!

[Kiipu]

Many thanks for the translation Mal.  Morita sensei was the one that located the book in Japan.  I never completely translated the text as portions were missing.  I found the book's title by doing an Internet search on some of the text.

@k morita

 

FYI, one of the swords he polished, serial セ 一二五一, turned up on this forum!

WWII Japanese Sword

[mecox]

I found another pic of women polishing (posted by Trystan).  I note now that a number of these pics were posted back in Feb 2022 (apologies to the posters). 

 

      

 

The pic looks similar to the first Matsue one...... possibly same workshop?   Pics have:  similar style/texture, girls are same age, same headband and winter clothes.  In pic A can see the low platform of pic B.  Background is similar and can see it with adjusted contrast in photos.  Together they show foundation polish on left and finish on right.    In pic B wall banners are old writing with no hiragana.  Large one is patriotic support for soldiers fighting.  Smaller one at left has 5 duties to follow to support the war effort.   Period is winter 1944 (so is that January or December?) and maybe Matsue high school girl volunteers.

 

 

 

 

 

[Yukihiro]

What I would be interested to know is what such a wartime polish looked like just out of the workshop.