You may already know, but this is a Type 98 officer gunto. The brown/blue tassel means it was carried by a Company grade officer. The fat brass seppa (spacer) is usually considered a nice upgrade and adds a classy look to the overall sword, which fits since this swordsmith was RJT qualified, and the blade MAY be traditionally made.
Yes. The Army provided their own steels to various weapons manufacturing locations. Smiths that qualified for the RJT program governing sword production had to make their swords in the traditional manner when using the Army's tamahagane. The star was an inspection stamp verifying the blade was made according to RJT rules with Army tamahagne.
The star was an inspection stamp verifying the blade was made according to RJT rules with Army tamahagne.
Bruce, please stick to the army's definition of the star stamp. I don't want to be asked "which RJT made made this mess tin, shovel, etc?". Strictly speaking, it only means the material quality had been checked by the army. Applied, so far as we know, to bullet proof steel and scrap aluminum besides Tamahagane.
We have come a long way in digging up original documents to achieve forensic clarity and accuracy in the histories and knowledge we impart. So it would not help to start building our own myths around them now that cloud all that we achieved in these 10 or so years.
As promised, some more images from the Shin Gunto nakago, some general details and the hamon. There is no additional stamp but I took a picture which maybe shows the writing and structure better.
How would I interpret the lack of an inspection stamp?
Let me know if you would like to see specific details, I have the sword in my possession now.
Ah, great pictures, and good looking gunto! Your guy is likely Murayama Kanetoshi from Gifu. There was another Kanetoshi working in Gifu during the war, but by the looks of your sword and mei, it's probably Murayama. Here's what Markus Sesko's book says about him:
"KANETOSHI (兼俊), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanetoshi” (兼俊), real name Murayama Kinokazu (村山喜之一), born August 3rd 1905, he worked as rikugun-jumei-tōshō and died February 23rd 1978, jōkō no retsu (Akihide), Second Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)"
Stamps - I can tell you more about a blade WITH stamps and date than I can without them. The question most collectors want to know is "Is my blade made in the traditional way (gendaito) or non-traditionally (showato)?" Stamping can help us answer that to some degree. The lack of them COULD mean it was gendaito, as we don't believe gendaito received showato inspection stamps, but there are other ways a blade could have made it to the war without getting stamped, like blades made for private purchase, or for commercial sword shops, rather than directly for the military. Also, if a blade were made before inspection stamps became prevalent, it could still be showato or gendaito. I know that is a jumble! The short answer is that the best way to know more about your blade is to get it in the hands of an experienced sword guy, or post some clear closeups of sections of the blade to show the fine details of the hamon (temper line) and steel texture.
On a side note, is the locking release button centered on the fuchi (handle end cap) or is it offset? Type 94s predominantly have it centered.
Thanks for the detailed thoughts. To be honest, I like the sword as it is. Of course it will be nice to know it was gendaito but I will love it just the same if it is not ( maybe slightly less ) , as a piece of history.
I will try to take good close-up photos of the structure, have not managed that yet (seems to be quite tricky, what the eye sees is not what the camera sees). I looked at various examples of visible hada indicating tamahagane and gendaito on the web and will see if I can capture this.
The locking mechanism is not centered. It was mentioned before in this thread that it is a Type 98, maybe that is why ?
Bookmarks