Help with translation of 98 gunto

[rajko84]

I was sent this pictures so I was wondering what does it say. The small stamp looks like "W". Thank you guys

[rajko84]

1

[rajko84]

2

[rajko84]

3

[GHP]

武久
Takehisa

昭和十八年春
Shōwa jū hachi-nen Haru
Spring 1943



Comparrison Oshigata:


Japanese Sword Index


I can't see what the pink circle is highlighting. Is it a "W" stamp? I found that Takehisa used a W stamp. [EDIT: When I reduced the image I was able to make out the "W" stamp.]

An Ebay seller writes:

The maker (Takehisa) is a VERY WELL KNOWN highly respected sword maker responsible for making some of the FINER WW2 Mantetsu swords
Takehisa often only indicated his forging input into the FAMOUS Mantetsu swords with a tiny "W" stamp .

Better comment:

Takehisa is predominantly known for his medium-grade showato (see Slough) which comprise the vast bulk of his wartime output. However he is also apparently known to have made fine gendaito. That said, given Slough, I was originally tempted to play safe and list this as a non-traditional sword until, on spending some time examining the sword closely, I found evidence of hada. The nakago has been finished carefully, the yasurime are disciplined and have kesho, the signature has been carefully carved and the hamon is suguha rather than the ubiquitous gunome found on the majority of the period's non-traditional blades.

There doesn't appear to be any information about 'W' stamps even in Slough. They appear in profusion on some blades, such as Mantetsu. One person commented that Slough records that they are only found on blades by Takehisa. However, I cannot find the passage referred to and in any case, it is incorrect since I have seen them on the blades of other smiths.

W stamps certainly don't appear to be arsenal marks. They may represent some system internal to the military workshops where blades were checked or mounted in their koshirae, or they may represent some sort of checking system peculiar to a group of smiths.

Source

--Guy

[BruceP]

Found W stamps on just a few smiths, so far: Takehisa, Yoshiharu, and Yoshi tani. (F&G, and JapaneseSwordIndex - http://www.japaneses...x.com/showa.htm

They are also found on several Type 95 NCO gunto.

I started a thread on the "W" stamp here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic...?hl=mysterious

[rajko84]

Thank you guys

[rajko84]

Extra pics of "W"
I found it stamped on 3 places

[BruceP]

Thanks for the update! Multiple "W"s does seem to be the norm for officer gunto. They seem to be just single ones on the NCO's.