Superb Gendaito Officer's Sword, Signed Ichihara Ichiryushi Nagamitsu, With Silver Clan Kamon, With Near Mint Original Polish Blade

Now sold.
In excellent condition overall, the signed blade shows a very fine hamon and is in original superb polish, and all the traditional WW2 sword fittings are very good plus. Metal saya covered in combat leather. The tsuka bears a very good silver kanji clan kamon crest, from a family of traditional samurai.

Nagamitsu is one of the most famous names in the history of Japanese swords. There have been various swordsmiths named Nagamitsu who worked from the mid 1200’s through the 1940’s. In fact we also just acquired one by a 1300's Nagamitsu,

The most famous of them worked in Bizen, although swordsmiths by this name are recorded as having worked in Satsuma, Yamato, Yamashiro and other locations.
Ichihara Ichiryushi Nagamitsu worked during the Showa Era in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He was supposedly the one of the famous gendaito smiths who was Director of Okayama Prison and trained men under his control to make fine gendaito. Also known as Emura swords.It had been thought that Ichihara Nagamitsu and Chounsai Emura were the same swordsmith or at least that their work was related in some way. It had been speculated that perhaps Nagamitsu worked at the Okayama Prison; however, this is probably not the case. So far none have seen nor heard of any documentary evidence linking Nagamitsu to any prison. It is now thought to be known, thanks to new evidence developed by Chris Bowen, that they are likely totally different and unrelated swordsmiths, but this debate has been waged for decades.

It has been established that Nagamitsu was a participant in the first Army Shinsakuto Exhibition held in 1944, in which he entered under the name of Ichihara Nagamitsu. Nagamitsu resided in Okayama and is mentioned in the Tosho Zensho by Shimizu which lists him as a Rikugun Jumei Tosho (Army approved swordsmith) and as a member of the Rikugun Gunto Gijutsu Tenrankai. He was awarded the Kaicho-sho prize at a sword competition held by Riku-gun Gunto Sho-rei Kai before the war.

Some Nagamitsu blades will have a small, faint “saka” stamp on the nakago or nakago-mune. This indicates a blade made for the Osaka Rikugun Zoheisho (Osaka Army Arsenal). Several smiths including Ichihara Nagamitsu, Gassan Sadakatsu, Kawano Sadashige and Kosaka Masayoshi made blades for the Osaka Rikugun Zoheisho.
Swordsman Saruta Mitsuhiro, head of the Musashi Dojo Ryuseika of Osaka, used a blade made by Ishiryushi Nagamitsu to perform kabutowari (helmet cutting). The blade successfully cut several centimeters into the iron plate helmet without sustaining significant damage, thus demonstrating the excellent quality and resilience of Nagamitsu’s swords.
This hand forged katana is a fine quality Gendaito

Code: 24893