Photo of an IJA Officer with Shin-Gunto

alvin · 02-01-2013, 10:16 PM

Yeah.... at this moment, I'm not in hurry to sell it. Sold a few guns (including a hot assault rifle!) to raise fund for the target pistol, most likely not enough, but I won't overbid it anyway. So money wise, the pushing force disappeared.

Regarding the "mei" (handwriting on steel handle), it's the swordsmith who made this gendaito. "下總住國明": the first two Kanji (下總) is a city/town/county in Japan, so it's a location. The 3rd character (住) is "lived in". The last two characters "國明" is the name of the swordsmith. Oriental culture puts location in the front, so the mei really reads "國明, who lived in 下總".

There is a list of Showa era swordsmithes, but I did not find this man's name in the list. Many Showato's have date on the other side of the steel handle, but this one does not. God knows, the blade might be made in pre-Showa era and fitted in Type 98 style during WWII. But that's a guesstimation. This is the only instance that I've seen carrying this mei.

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02-01-2013, 10:16 PM	#11
alvin User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: US Posts: 3,843 Thanks: 132 Thanked 729 Times in 438 Posts	Yeah.... at this moment, I'm not in hurry to sell it. Sold a few guns (including a hot assault rifle!) to raise fund for the target pistol, most likely not enough, but I won't overbid it anyway. So money wise, the pushing force disappeared. Regarding the "mei" (handwriting on steel handle), it's the swordsmith who made this gendaito. "下總住國明": the first two Kanji (下總) is a city/town/county in Japan, so it's a location. The 3rd character (住) is "lived in". The last two characters "國明" is the name of the swordsmith. Oriental culture puts location in the front, so the mei really reads "國明, who lived in 下總". There is a list of Showa era swordsmithes, but I did not find this man's name in the list. Many Showato's have date on the other side of the steel handle, but this one does not. God knows, the blade might be made in pre-Showa era and fitted in Type 98 style during WWII. But that's a guesstimation. This is the only instance that I've seen carrying this mei.