Stegel

Rob, Those pictures are from the old UK dealers site found in his archives here (from 2019). If you look carefully you will see that there is one of each seppa (not two large ones) and they are fitted incorrectly. Just recently this sword showed up again here on our very own NMB. Not sure of the swords life between these few years but the seppa are now reversed and in the original configuration with the larger one facing the scabbard. Hope this helps.

Yes I agree, I’ll need to check other swords in this range by Suya to see if they had the black painted screws or not

You could also unscrew the scabbard throat carefully with a good screwdriver and examine the throat insert for any traces of old paint. This would help to determine what kind of paint job was applied. it could be a bare metal repaint or a complete paint over (where you should see traces of other paint) The difficult part is determining whether it is period or post war

Hi Zach, If by “bad” decision you mean that you think it is a fake, then rest assured- it is 100% genuine as Kippu has more or less said. The scabbard colour appears to be the red bean colour to me, but it looks like paint near the hanger, or is the paint rubbed back to the metal? could you please confirm. it doesn’t seem to have the wear marks that I would expect from normal usage, so it is possible that it has been repainted at some point. If you could post some close ups of the drag also it could help.

Yes this is a genuine Type95 NCO sword, made by the Seki group under Kokura Administration. These used to be common and able to be bought cheaply in the US and Australia. However they are not as easily found nowadays, as most have found their ways into collections or kept by the veteran’s family’s as heirlooms to be passed down the line etc. The scabbard colour appears to be the “red bean” colour, which is actually NOT as common as some would believe. Given today’s market it should easily fetch US$1000 as a rough guide. Obviously the better the condition, then the price would go up accordingly. I hope this helps you out.

Matt, can you show a picture of the mune on your sword? Tom's pictures show 2 stamps on the mune, for a moment i got excited thinking it was the 私 stamp signifying a private purchase, but the more i look at it, i think it is the 社 'sha' army acceptance stamp. The lower one i'm not sure about yet. On the drag, i think the top stamp is again the 'sha' with a heavily struck 'To' beneath it.

I agree, and as Matt previously stated, there have been at least another 3 very similar configurations seen previously.

The Seki logo appears to have been struck with a Heavy hand in my opinion, as does the Kokura logo as well as a partial double Stike

Currently €1000 = US$1041 , which makes me agree with zook, a bit on the high side for mismatched sword. If it was matching, it would be around the average going price at the moment in my opinion. Of course your market in Europe tends to be higher, but you could always make an offer €900 perhaps?

Great Viewing! I love these old films, i find them more interesting than normal TV and modern documentaries - keeping in mind of course, their propaganda use. Thanks for sharing!

Interesting find Ribendao, could you show a picture of the whole sword with scabbard please? (Or at least a few of the scabbard) Dave, very good point, there would have been quite a few spare!

I’m of the opinion that the company grade tassel, already attached may be original to the sword. With the shortage of sword supply in 1938, the IJA introduced the type95 rental program for officers. This program enabled officers to rent a type95, until the back orders of type 98 were filled and supply returned to normal. The option to buy the type95 outright instead of waiting for a type98 was also offered. The tassel shown is quite long and fits well, also appears to have been there for some time. What is the actual length?

I don't see any reason for keeping the actual serial number a secret... you have given us the range already, and it is something every 'prospective' buyer would like to know in advance i believe. Is this the same sword you show in these old posts here and here ?

Hey Phil, could possibly be Manchurian, as it has 20 stamens in what should be a Plum blossom and not Cherry which has 15 stamen. The Japanese used the Cherry Blossom (sakura, i think it's called) whereas Manchukuo used the Plum Blossom. Try posting it over at Warrelics Forum, if you can't get answers here, Nick Komiya would be able to give you a more definitive answer.

The price range given before is fairly accurate given today’s prices on eBay. The fact that it is fairly minty is a strong selling point for you. Symmetrical means both sides of the handle are the same as far as the imitation wrapping is concerned. Asymmetrical means that the wrap differs from one side to the other. In this case the wrap was moved to make way for the mounting screw.

Thanks for the pics, much better! I don’t see any sign of another stamp, this is not uncommon though, as you would expect only random samples to be inspected instead of the whole production run for quality control. Still, you have a very nice sword! The sword is part of the very first production by Gifu(Seki) for the Nagoya Arsenal and as such it is reasonably rare in itself. Only some 1200 to 1500 were made in this run, and very few are recorded.

I would also think it is a type32. Great postcard, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the extra photos, however the area we are interested in is the top half of the throat. The’Na’ stamp precedes the serial number as would be expected. Your scabbard has more paint on it, so it is partially obscured. could you show the whole scabbard throat, and maybe also a photo of the back of the collar(fuchi) as there may be a stamp there also

Thanks Rob! I've been looking for this one as i have already mentioned it to Bruce for his document. I haven't been able to find it again! Do you have any other photos or auction id ?

Thanks, An interesting read.

Nice sword Steve, and thanks for sharing it here. The guy's here have given you a fairly good guess on the date of manufacture, which i agree with also. There are only a handful of these recorded in this number range of which even fewer have a fourth stamp. The stamp is 'ko' and i only know of two examples that have it stamped on the fuchi, so yes it is rare. I would like to see the scabbard throat with the serial numbers, you may find the extra stamp there. I have a mint example of the 'Gifu' (Seki) sword in this range with the stamp on the scabbard throat. It is the only one i have seen and yours could possibly be the second!

I'll go for genuine at this point, that is going by the photos provided. Nearly all reproductions are copies of the standard tassel strap, this one happens to be the 'deluxe' version as can be seen when the strap is flat, and the colour facing you is bordered (along the edges) with the opposing colour. The crowns did vary in size from what i've seen, especially with some generals tassels that were on swords with providence. Difference could also be possibly due to different manufacturers at the time. Can you get a photo of the overall complete tassel? That may help possibly.

Gareth, I agree with the general view of the sword not being genuine. At £975, it is way overpriced, even as a movie prop in my opinion. I noticed that the dealer has chosen his words carefully in the description, he states the sword is original in being a movie prop, but doesn't state that about the sword itself. There are many issues with it, but the photographs are poor, also limited in that they don't show quite enough. I suspect this may have been done deliberately (compare to the photo's of another type95 he has) The most important thing is the fuchi stamps are of poor quality. The central inspection stamp is very similar to the replica's which come from Poland, and some Chinese copies. The font used in the serial number is wrong. The serial number range was actually used by the Suya contractor, not Iijima as this one is. This dealer also has another Type 95 sword on offer, which IS genuine, he actually goes to the effort of stating this in his description. The price is also higher though at £1,250 (if you want to see it and compare to the one you have shown, then the item # is -> Sn 19250) If you want a real type 95, give this one a BIG MISS, and keep looking around. Here are a few issues, apart from the wrong contractors stamp, which do not make it genuine.

Hi David, You beat me to it!, i saw this last week and went to check on finances, but when i went to go back to it, you must have snagged it! Good price and Well done. Thanks for sharing photos here too as from memory the scabbard wasn't shown. Here's an old write up on these that you may find interesting, it's from Francis Allen, with input from eddoko (Takehito Jimbo), both from Gunboards Forum. I'm not sure if this has been updated by them or other type 32 collectors, as it mentions the 'KO' appearing to be made right up to the end of the war 1945. We know this wasn't correct from research into the Japanese Archives by Nick Komiya (who is a lifetime member over at Warrelics Forum now). Overall, a lot of these were made over some 36 years from 1899, some 80000 of each?, but both models were replaced by the Type 95 in 1937 when production began. I would think yours would be an 1899 example at a guess.

Thanks for the update Dan, Here in Aus, we've had 4 coppers appear in two auctions just recently.