Shin gunto kanemoto?

[kanemotows6]

I have found a very poor condition type 98? I have been given very different information about this from a few different sources.  Can anyone help me fully identify this sword. It was found in a attic of a military house that was getting demolished. Thank you.  

[Ray Singer]

Noshu ju Sukenobu 

 

Dated April 1942

 

https://www.google.c...rome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

[Bruce Pennington]

Matt,

In spite of the condition of the fittings, you've likely got a really nice blade there.  Sukenobu, from Noshu (Modern day Gifu, If I have that right) and was an RJT rated smith that made blades traditionally.  I don't know when he got RJT qualified, maybe @mecox or @vajo might know.

 

Check a litter higher above the smith name to see if there was a star stamped up there.  The earliest I have on file from him is Oct '42, so far, with a star.

[Bruce Pennington]

Oh, and the sword was a Type 98 Japanese officer sword.  You can see examples on Ohmura's site here: 

Army Officer Type 98 - Ohmura

 

Care and cleaning guide:

Japanese Sword Care - JSI

[mecox]

@kanemotows6    Scott,   the smith is Toki Sukenobu who produced good work.   Examples and family history here:

 

 

[kanemotows6]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Matt,

In spite of the condition of the fittings, you've likely got a really nice blade there.  Sukenobu, from Noshu (Modern day Gifu, If I have that right) and was an RJT rated smith that made blades traditionally.  I don't know when he got RJT qualified, maybe @mecox or @vajo might know.

 

Check a litter higher above the smith name to see if there was a star stamped up there.  The earliest I have on file from him is Oct '42, so far, with a star.

Thank you all for the information.  I did not see any star. But I did find 2 more markings that I had originally overlooked. 

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Matt.  That's "NA" "HO"; Na of the Nagoya Army Arsenal that likely processed the blade, then HO of Kokura Army Arsenal that had supervisory authority over them at the time.

[Bruce Pennington]

Dang, Matt!  I just realized what I was looking at with that crumbing saya (scabbard).  It's a leather cover that was painted white, and even the ito (cloth handle wrap) is white!  There are a couple of threads discussing legit WWII swords, often NCO Type 95s, but some officer swords.  Read these:

 

Winter Is Coming - White Type 95s

 

Greetings From AZ .... Type 98, white

[kanemotows6]

10 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Dang, Matt!  I just realized what I was looking at with that crumbing saya (scabbard).  It's a leather cover that was painted white, and even the ito (cloth handle wrap) is white!  There are a couple of threads discussing legit WWII swords, often NCO Type 95s, but some officer swords.  Read these:

 

Winter Is Coming - White Type 95s

 

Greetings From AZ .... Type 98, white

Wow. That is awesome.  I for the life of me could not understand the scabbard looking the way that it does. I originally thought that it was mold but didn't understand that as it was found laying in a attic that was completely dry.  I know enough to know not to clean it or do anything that could degrade the condition further. 

[vajo]

@Bruce Pennington since i know he was starting as a smith 1940. 

His real name is Toki Akinobu. A swordsmith commissioned by the army in Seki, Gifu Prefecture.
He belonged to Seki Swords Co., Ltd. and made swords under the names Niwa Kanenobu, Niwa Kanenobu, Kounobu Kanegami, Murayama Kanetoshi and others. He is a master swordsmith who took second place at the New Japanese Swords Exhibition in 1941 and achieved the rank of Sekiwake (high-ranking swordsmith) in the ranking of sacred swordsmiths.