Helmut Weitze

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Help with reading Sword Handle

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    Help with reading Sword Handle

    I am looking at what I think is a WWII blade on the so called Army Officers type 1944 style, I would appreciate a translation of the kanji on the handle.
    Thanks



    #2
    I believe it's Sadamitsu, dated Showa Ju Ku Nen Ju Ni Gatsu, December 1944

    Paul M.

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      #3
      Thanks! I assume these would be machine made blades?

      Comment


        #4
        It's possible, but without pictures of the blade, impossible to say. Is there a small stamp at the top of the nakago (tang), near the tsuba/seppa (handguard & spacers)?

        I'm also curious about the fittings. You say it's in '44 style, but the blades made for that style usually have 2 holes in the nakago. Can you post pictures of the whole rig?

        Rather than "machine made" I like to say "non-traditionally made". There were 9 different ways of making blades during the war and almost all of them used hydraulic hammers and presses, but all of them were made by humans. The Type 95, NCO sword, and the Zohei-to officer sword were the only 2 that were made from one solid steel bar, rolled and pressed by machines, yet even they were handled, and worked by real smiths.
        Attached Files

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          #5
          I thought I posted about 貞光 Sadamitsu! Must have been eaten by this new format monster.

          There were three Showa-era smiths named 貞光 Sadamitsu

          From Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan:
          • SADAMITSU (貞光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989) → SADAICHI (貞一)
          • [Oops ... this one is disqualified: Born in 1950!!] SADAMITSU (貞光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Fukuoka – “Buzen no Kuni Kōno Sadamitsu” (備前国河野貞光), real name Kōno Hiroshi (河野博), born 1950, he studied under Gassan Sadaichi (月山貞一) and was the successor of Makoto Kunimitsu (誠国光), his blades are praised for their superior sharpess what earned Sadamitsu the nicknames “Kon/Ima-Kotetsu” (今虎鉄, “present-day Kotetsu”) or “Heisei no ō-wazamono” (平成の大業物, “ō-wazamono of the Heisei era”)
          • SADAMITSU (貞光), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Ehime – “Sadamitsu” (貞光), family name Matsumoto (松本), jōkō no retsu (Akihide), First Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)
          -- Guy

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            #6
            Thanks Guy! I really appreciate your diligence and dedication to this forum.
            David

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