FUKUMOTO KANEMUNE WORK

[Bruno]

Gentlemen,

 

I have this Type 3 sword made by Seki smith FUKUMOTO KANEMUNE, dated Showa 1926 NI JYU NEN SAN GATSU(the 20th year of Showa era, the 3rd month, March 1945), signed KANEMUNE.

 

I have already asked about it in previous topic, and I have noticed that the nakago has a very small and faint stamp/mark that I have never been able to identify.

 

I have now plenty of very interesting books(thank you Stephen! :D ) with relevant infos, but no way to know more about this mark.

 

So, if some of you, friendly people of the NMB, has a KANEMUNE sword with a stamp on it which is not a Seki or Showa one, I would be gratefull if you can post a picture of your nakago.

 

Kind regards

[Roger Wildcat]

You want the picture of the tang?

 

I didn't notice any stamp on mine.

[Bruno]

Thank you Roger!

 

But, I beleive that yes,there is the small mark too on your tang.

Or maybe I have a bad view.

[Roger Wildcat]

What general area will I need to look at for a stamp?

[Bruno]

I guess it is on the pic you just posted, it seems that a faint mark is close to the washer, neer the hole.

 

It could be also a defect.

[Roger Wildcat]

Well, I see a incredably small mark which I thought was a scratch. When I took it outside in broad daylight, it showed even more detail.

 

Just took another picture, let me know what you see.

[Stephen]

Roger

 

looks to be showa stamp.

 

page n Kanemune...here again.

 

Bruno

 

any thing like one of these?

[Bruno]

To Roger and Stephen, thanks to you guys!

 

Well, my stamp is completly unreadable(to faint, not as well printed as Roger's one), that is why I asked if someone has a more or less same Kanemune sword with a better stamp that could be the same as mine.

 

As mine like Roger's one is a Type 3 and forged only 2 months after Roger's sword, I beleive it is the same mark.

 

Even with Roger's pic, I am not able to tell which stamp it is. Stephen, you vote for the Showa one?Right?

 

Kind regards

[John A Stuart]

I wonder if it is a stylised kakihan for Fukumoto 福本, rather than a Showa stamp. John

[Bruno]

Showa or Chimata stamp....I do not know for sure.

 

According to Fuller and Gregory, the showa stamp appears to have been superseded by production-centre stamps such Seki after 1942(the 2 Kanemune were forged in 1945).

 

Furthermore, every Showa stamps I saw, were a much bigger.

[loiner1965]

my kanemune as the standard showa stamp and his personal kao....which is a flaming ball

may i also add......i also have a kanetoshi which i believe is another signature used by kanemune this also as a kokuin / hot stamp on it

[george trotter]

Hi,

the stamp looks to my tired old eyes to be very similar to what Fuller and Gregory call "chimata" inside a sakura blossom (same as "sho" sakura blossom). it is shown also in Kapp &Yoshihara "Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmoths" page 62. I have only ever seen this on Type 3 mounted swords, so must be a stamp that came out around 1943. Another stamp I have seen only on Type 3 is "matsu" in a circle, but obviously different to this one.

Hope this helps.

George.

[John A Stuart]

George, I have been talking with Bruno about this mark and had written it off as not a standard mark. However looking at magnification can see how it could be a mis-struck chimata stamp, which is the same as the Gifu stamp except within the sakura lozenge. I do see how this can be the case. 岐 It must be. John

[Bruno]

Thank you Steve, George, John and others,

 

This is true, Chimata and Gifu marks are almost the same. The Gifu one seems to have 2 strokes/lines(in the first kanji) shorter than the Chimata.And it appears to me that it is this one(Gifu)we can see on the Roger's picture.

 

However, the mark on the nakago is inside a sakura blossom and as I never seen any Gifu mark before, I do not know if it can be found inside a sakura blossom too.

If yes, I think the stamp on the Type 3 nakago is a Gifu stamp.

If not, 33%Gifu 33%Chimata 33% unidentified one!!! :D

 

(I still wonder why two different words like Gifu and Chimata are written with so similar kanji, and what does Chimata mean.)

 

Once again thanks everyone for your precious help, I really appreciate it.

 

Regards

[John A Stuart]

That is kind of interesting. 岐 is the first kanji in Gifu. Pronounced gi, ki or takashi, mata. 巷; 岐; 衢 【ちまた】 (n) (1) the public; (2) street; district; quarters; (3) location (of a battle, etc.); (4) divide (e.g. between life and death); (5) (orig. meaning) fork (in a road); crossroads

John

BTW, I forgot to mention that 巷 which is a synonym for 岐 is pronounced 'chimata'. J

[Roger Wildcat]

I found a picture of a tang with a better stamp on ebay, just type Kanemune and his sword shows up.

[Bruno]

I think this one is the Showa stamp different from the one on ours Kanemune. Yes it is better printed.

[loiner1965]

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=4917&p=38002&hilit=kanemune#p38002

this is a thread i started about my sword as i thought it was the winged wheel stamp as kanemune made these swords too but its the flaming ball kao....it was my learned friend stephen who actually identified it....top man is stephen and will go out of his way to help others

[Stephen]

the one i should have posted.

[loiner1965]

kanemune swords i like as i have 2 but i think he is one of the hardest showa smiths in researching.

[David Flynn]

A friend of mine picked up a Showa Tachi (presentation?) at a gun show. He bought it because it was in very good condition and a very good price. The blade was also in good condition but grey. Upon taking it home, he discovered it was a fully signed Kanemune without any stamps. Upon the application of a bit of Uchiko, the blade came up a treat. All features were visible.

[Bruno]

May we see pics please, if you have some? I only saw one showa Tachi.

[Roger Wildcat]

From the page that Stephan presented to us, the stamp looks like the 2nd on the top row.

[Bruno]

  Roger Wildcat said:

From the page that Stephan presented to us, the stamp looks like the 2nd on the top row.

 

Yes, Chimata stamp obviously.

 

Gifu stamp is very similar:岐

[David Flynn]

As it is not my sword, I can't post any pics. However, the owner is a member of this board and I will ask him.

[Nihonto Chicken]

BTW, is this mei

 

 

the same as that on p.40 of Yumoto? He identifies his mei as Kumemune. I have a gunto with the Yumoto mei as near as I can read it on p.40, also has a deep, bigger than life standard showa stamp, FWIW.

[Nihonto Chicken]

Anybody? Bueller???

[ww2colorado]

Guys i have one i will add photos shortly

[Bruce Pennington]

  On 12/28/2009 at 5:51 PM, Roger Wildcat said:

I found a picture of a tang with a better stamp on ebay, just type Kanemune and his sword shows up.

This one is clearly a Showa stamp, placed sideways.

 

Your original is something else, like discussed above. I've love to see it with those small rust pieces removed from the stamp. It looks more like a Gifu than chimata, but without removing the rust pieces it's hard to say.

 

[ww2colorado]

Heres mine ,