Katana and inscription on cloth help

[ulrichrudel]

Hi guys I have just joined and posted in the welcome area, I thought I would start with my katana and see what you think.
The blade has a straight Hamon line which is thicker in parts and thinner in other but not wavy.
No visible maker mark on tang would love some comments and maybe a translation? Have had it years and love it amongst quite a large collection.
Thanks

[ulrichrudel]

Some more pics.


Thanks

[Nick Komiya]

Tag reads Shigesaburo Akamatsu, name of the owner who surrendered the weapon.

[ulrichrudel]

That’s fantastic thanks so much I’ve wondered for years about that you’ve made my day!! Am I right in thinking it’s a 98 shin gunto nco sword? I don’t know a lot about Japanese items but fell in love with it, it has such a lovely “quality” about it, also would you say it’s a machine made blade etc for Ww2 seeing as there is no maker at least visible on the tang.
The tang has two marks like cuts almost, I don’t want to clean it as apparent (learnt from here) it devalues and can affect the originality etc thanks again

[DaveR]

It would be nice (and informative) to see pic's of the whole tang, both sides, and vertical with the blade up. Chances are that it is a factory made blade, but there are surprises all the time in this field.

[Bruce Pennington]

You're right about it being Type 98, but that's an officer gunto. NCOs carried Type 95. Nice blade. By the straight hamon I thought "Alright, another Mantetsu!" but it's not, as there is no writing on the nakago (tang).

I'm with Dave - would like to see full pics of the nakago, both sides, with all the hardware off.

[ulrichrudel]

Thanks for the replies, I’ll post all the pics of the tang I have at present and take some more the next few days, great knowledge as always

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Ulrich! All the spots I thought might be stamps were simply pitting.

Not uncommon to see a blade unsigned (mumei). When the better pics of the blade and tip come, we'll have a better idea of it's manufacture, but from the current ones, I'd say WWII era, non-traditionally made factory blade. The lack of stamps COULD put it in pre-1940 time-frame as the stamping didn't get widely used until then. The blade looks well made though. Nice gunto!

Hey, with the next set of pics, how about a clear closeup of this area?

[ulrichrudel]

Thanks Bruce and everyone else, here are the pics as requested I clean the blade the traditional way even if the the blade is not made the traditional way, I never permit anyone to even touch it hehe.
I love the sword even if it is machine made it makes no difference to me at all I fell in love with it the second I saw it and still do, the release catch is broken and the sword comes loose from scabbard without button in my mind it’s the only fault.
Thanks so much for the replies and great information, hope there is more

Regards

Lee

[ulrichrudel]

Some more sunny blade pics