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Posted

Bruce,

I just typed in "star stamp" and up came about every matter we are discussing here.

On Matsu, that pesky guy Trotter showed a Tokyo sword mounting shop advert from 1942 and it was run by a guy named Matsuyama...sooo...? Maybe he had the contract to do the Yamagami brothers?

In relation to those small numbers on the mune of the Takayama Kunihide of Kyoto blades I found two more smiths from that area (same high class area distinctive Rinji mounts) and they were marked:

Sugio Matsumoto  star  19/9  93 on mune.

Endo Tomonari     star  19/7  24 on mune.

Since both these smiths are mounted the same as my Takashima Kunihide of Kyoto and share the same numbers on the mune...they can't? be smith numbers but must be RJT or mounter or polisher.

 

You have a big job here of figuring out what's what!

 

Time for a rum & coke on the verandah!
Regards,

Posted

Bruce, very small star stamp on a '98 tsuba. Any thoughts?

 

Bruce,

I just typed in "star stamp" and up came about every matter we are discussing here.

 

You have a big job here of figuring out what's what!

 

Time for a rum & coke on the verandah!

Regards,

You guys are blowing my circuits!

 

Neil - totally new - going in the Unknown category in the koshirae section!

 

George - I'll be happy to publish ALL your discoveries on this that YOU come up with! Ha! BTW, it's good to see you active on the forums again! (oh, and I opted for a shot of Nikka Whiskey instead!)

Posted

My head hurts...3 years writing a book on local military/civil issue arms here and just when I thought it was safe to NMB again...

Thank God someone invented rum & coke.

Speaking of whiskey, when I worked up in the SW Pacific (Bougainville Island and Guadalcanal etc) we used to drink a whiskey called Hankey Bannister (great).

The weather here at the moment is as bad as the islands...maybe I'll have another R&C on the verandah tonight (for medicinal purposes of course).

Regards,

Posted

While not encountered to date, donated swords were to be marked with an encircled .

愛 = ai = love.

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112-post1954301/#post1954301

 

The marking above differs from the more common marking of 愛国 as pictured at the link below.

愛国 = aikoku = love of country or patriotism.

http://www.castle-thunder.com/model.htm

 

  • Like 2
  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Does anyone know what these characters 金丸 (Kanamaru) mean in regards to the sword below?  Same sword, same owner, just different forums.

金丸

 

Amahide

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9537-amahide/?do=findComment&comment=100523

 

Swords, swords, anyone have swords ??

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?20572-Swords-swords-anyone-have-swords&p=151338#post151338

Posted

Does anyone know what these characters 金丸 (Kanamaru) mean in regards to the sword below?  Same sword, same owner, just different forums.

金丸

 

Amahide

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/9537-amahide/?do=findComment&comment=100523

 

Swords, swords, anyone have swords ??

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?20572-Swords-swords-anyone-have-swords&p=151338#post151338

Thomas,

A google searh brings this up as a surname.  There was a "loyal retainer", of the 47 Ronin, named Kanamaru: https://www.roningallery.com/oribe-yahei-kanamaru

And a fighter ace with the name Kanamaru: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_Japan

 

So just a guess, but I'd bet it was the name of the owner.  The blade was made by Amahide who had his own kakihan (hot stamp), so it likely wasn't tied to him specifically.

Posted

That is good information Chris (edit to add...your info rang a bell... I looked up my notes and I once had in hand a sword signed "Toto ju Ushoshin" (see Rich Stein's oshi list) which is Yanagawa Ushoshin, a Betseki smith according to 'Mezurashii Senzen no Gendai Tosho Banzuke 1943. As this was a swordsmith workshop who made Shoshin-to I suppose the Ushoshin may be a "brand" rather than a mei, but these were the brothers Yanagawa as you say Chris (see also 'Dainihon Token Shoko Meikan 1942 p.72).

 

A better example of this Naohiro mei stamp is attached here.....on a Meiji/Taisho era kyugunto with bo-hi.

 

Apart from this Naohiro, the WWII tosho Iijima Masayuki of Yamanashi and Tokyo is the only other smith that I know of who used a stamp for his mei.

Regards,

Got a new one George (thanks to Stephen): Nobumitsu

post-3487-0-53577800-1581882992_thumb.jpg

Posted

Here’s one off the saya from a sword i recently purchased.

That's a beauty Brandon! I have one in the Stamps Doc, but yours is in better shape. I'm putting yours there, if you don't mind.

 

"Shoheikan Gunso Kabushiki Gaisha" (don't know what that means, but it's the koshirae shop emblem)

Posted

That's a beauty Brandon! I have one in the Stamps Doc, but yours is in better shape. I'm putting yours there, if you don't mind.

 

"Shoheikan Gunso Kabushiki Gaisha" (don't know what that means, but it's the koshirae shop emblem)

Don’t mind at all. If you give me a couple of weeks I’ll get some better pics with a better camera and check for other markings in the mount.

  • Like 1
Posted

Here’s one off the saya from a sword i recently purchased.

 

The company logo belongs to 株式會社尚兵館.  The company also printed manuals for the army so it is not just a sword company.  Below is a link to another reference that gives a slightly different name for the company by adding "gunso" to the name.

 

"Japanese Sword Company Logos of the World War II Era"

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/logo/logo.htm

Posted

The company logo belongs to 株式會社尚兵館. The company also printed manuals for the army so it is not just a sword company. Below is a link to another reference that gives a slightly different name for the company by adding "gunso" to the name.

 

"Japanese Sword Company Logos of the World War II Era"

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/logo/logo.htm

It has a wood lacquered saya...

Posted

The company logo belongs to 株式會社尚兵館.  The company also printed manuals for the army so it is not just a sword company.  Below is a link to another reference that gives a slightly different name for the company by adding "gunso" to the name.

 

"Japanese Sword Company Logos of the World War II Era"

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/logo/logo.htm

Thomas,

Does the company name translate to anything usable in English?

Posted

I have a #10506 that clearly has the almite coating still.

 

Just as important is Ohmura sensei has a Type 95 Military Sword made by Nagoya Arsenal, serial number 名10606, incorrectly identified on his website as serial number 9090T, that also has the "ko" 小 inspection mark.  Odd that two swords one hundred digits apart have the same additional inspection mark.

http://ohmura-study.net/791.html

Posted

Bruce

I'm good with Kanji ,ok with 仮名/かな Kana,this one looks は Ha/Wa

Trystan, I just went back to the Japaneseswordsindex.com and realized they've made a "typo" and put the exact same kanji in the "Ne" spot as in the "Ha" spot. Checking other charts, I agree with "Ha."

post-3487-0-56922200-1582865451_thumb.jpg

Posted

Just as important is Ohmura sensei has a Type 95 Military Sword made by Nagoya Arsenal, serial number 名10606, incorrectly identified on his website as serial number 9090T, that also has the "ko" 小 inspection mark.  Odd that two swords one hundred digits apart have the same additional inspection mark.

http://ohmura-study.net/791.html

Thomas, As these are very early in the production, maybe the Kokura inspectors were adding their approval in addition to the Nagoya inspectors; then, for unknown reasons, later discontinued the practice. We'd need to see some other blades in the number-range to see if they all had the 4th stamp.

 

There are a couple of other 95s with a 4th stamp, the "jin" of Jensen Arsenal, on Tokyo made blades. But the reason for it might be different than these two.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Thomas

Did you post where is the "氺" mark on Type 95 nco sword from before? I can't find your post ...

 

 

Just as important is Ohmura sensei has a Type 95 Military Sword made by Nagoya Arsenal, serial number 名10606, incorrectly identified on his website as serial number 9090T, that also has the "ko" 小 inspection mark.  Odd that two swords one hundred digits apart have the same additional inspection mark.

http://ohmura-study.net/791.html

Posted

Did you post where is the "氺" mark on Type 95 nco sword from before? I can't find your post ...

 

Little is known about this company other than that the company name began with 水野 Mizuno.  Below is a link to the only Japanese document that mentions this company as a maker of guntōs.

小作機第47号 兵器製造設備能力ニ関スル件通牒 昭和17年10月7日 小倉陸軍造兵廠

https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/imageen_C14010934400?IS_KEY_S1=C14010934400&IS_KIND=SimpleSummary&IS_STYLE=eng&IS_TAG_S1=InfoSDU&

 

As an aside, several swordsmiths during this time frame also had the last name of Mizuno but it is unknown if any of them were connected to the company above.

 

As for the swords themselves, a good starting point is the post below.

"Has anyone come across this Stamp before??"

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?297882-Has-anyone-come-across-this-Stamp-before

 

 

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