A Signed Imperial Japanese WWII Type 98 Army 1944 Dated Shin Gunto "Katana/Tachi" Style Sword in good condition with some exterior wear and surface pitting to the blade. The sword was made by Kanaya Katsumasa who was a Japanese swordsmith active during the Showa period, particularly during the years surrounding the Second World War. He was associated with Hoki Province, in present-day Tottori Prefecture, and is documented as a traditionally trained swordsmith producing gendaito, or modern Japanese swords forged using traditional methods. Kanaya Katsumasa was active by at least 1941, when he participated in the 6th New Japanese Sword Exhibition and received Second Seat recognition for his work. He is classified in swordsmith references as a Chujo-saku smith, a recognized quality ranking sometimes described by collectors as a fourth-rank classification. His swords are known with signatures identifying him as Kanaya Katsumasa of Hoki Province. He continued producing swords during the wartime period of the early 1940s, and surviving examples are collected today as representative works of Japanese swordmaking during the Showa era and the Second World War period. While his exact birth and death dates are not firmly established in commonly available references, his documented activity in 1941 provides a definite historical date for his career.