Bruce Pennington

Jeffrey, Congrats on the great find and welcome to the hobby! Go through Ohmura's great site to learn about WWII swords: WWII Gunto (military sword) Parts and Names You can click on the "Table of Contents" on that page and find all the Army and Navy, officer and NCO swords of the war and how they look.

I would venture, though, that this blade tip shape is not a standard, or commonly seen shape on a sword found from the war - shobu-zukuri. It would have been something older, civil. Or it was simply something manufactured after the war, as stated earlier, for souvenir sales.

Some of these were made from the halves of swords cut in two after the war.

Just adding a link to Thomas' summary of variations:

Just chiming in to thank you guys for this study, really enjoying it! Sorry I can't help, but keep up the good work!

Sam & Thomas, I cannot remember who coined the terms, but in days-of-old there was a recognition of the version 2 and 2a, the difference being the the style of seppa. Is that something in this list? If not, should it be? Version 2 (old terms) Version 2a (old terms)

Thanks, Geraint. He is an interesting one, as he (or one of them?) sometimes uses a kiku with leaves & stem. I have two that way:

Hi guys! I file kiku marked blades. I have a few blades with Yasuhiro mei, various styles as you might expect. Only one with a proposed date range of 1660-70 and one in the 1700s. I can't find a Yasuhiro in Sesko using these kanji. So, my first question is how do we know about this guy at all? Examples: and What drove me to look into this is a current auction of a blade, kiku, Yoshihiro, and the seller claimed the date range to be in the 1300s. PRETTY sure the kiku wasn't being used that early, but then I couldn't find a reference to this kanji use in Sesko at all. Sorry for the extremely NuBee question. But looking to learn.

I see no images on those links, either.

And a special thanks to the anonymous donor!

On the bright side, that's a good price for one of these. Most of them being sold directly from China are around $150.

Sam, I have a copper and a Pattern 5, both back in Colorado (I'm in CA until January). If you don't get the shots you need before then, I'll get some to you. I have some pics on my laptop, but they're not as good as you'd like for your work.

Yes, I was surprised at how much these varied. Here is a monster that I had for a while:

John, I haven't been tracking then (I know, what a shocker! Ha!) Maybe @Kiipu or @BANGBANGSAN What I find very interesting, is the Type 94 with offset chuso (Yes, John @PNSSHOGUN has pointed this out) and the Type 98 with centered chuso:

Hi Eric, I am learning as we go with the kyugunto. Dawson, page 63, says your backstrap pattern is of the Type 19 kyugunto. He also states the second suspension mount was removeable on the 19s. If it is not, then this might be a Type 8. Is the blade signed? Can we get some shots of the nakago (tang)?

After looking it over more, I don't think it is stamped . Appears to be hammer and chiseled.

Hi Tom, Just backing up what the others have said - this is Chinese made.

Too bad about the openings in the steel, yet I bet this hamon would be stunning with a polish. Don't know the terms, but you can get a lesser expensive polish that cleans the blade up a bit and brings out the beauty. For the record, I don't study nihonto, just commenting on the attractiveness of that hamon.

Michael, In general, Type 19s with fighting blades did exist. Dawson shows them in his book, and calls them Type 19 kyugunto. I can't say whether we've seen any show up here at NMB. I'd say it is plausible that his was legit, however your theory is just as possible. Does the blade fit well in the saya?

Jens, Here is Akira-san's answer to your original questions. Also note, the Google translation incorrectly stated "officers working in government offices...". It said NCOs, which now is perfectly understandable. "However, the gist of it is that sergeant majors in artillery units other than those in Heavy Field Artillery Regiments 7 & 8, Antiaircraft Artillery and Heavy Artillery units carried the Type 32 Otsu sword and the Type 14 pistol, whereas those in the Heavy Field Artillery Regiments 7 & 8 and Antiaircraft Artillery wore the Type 30 Bayonet and the Type 14 pistol while Sergeant Majors in Heavy Artillery Units only wore the Type 32 Otsu Sword. I believe the reason sergeant majors in Heavy Field Artillery Regiments 7 & 8 and Antiaircraft Artillery wore the bayonet instead of the sword was probably because these units were motorized units which used tractors to pull their artillery pieces. Sergeants and below in artillery units except mounted artillery just carried the Type 30 bayonet while NCOs in Mounted Artillery regiments carried the Type 14 pistol in addition to the bayonet. Sergeant Majors in all other units except Transportation, Military Police and Motor Transport School carried just the Type 32 Otsu sword, while the excluded units carried in addition to the sword, also the Type 14 pistol. Sergeants and below in Transportation units also carried the Type 32 Otsu sword in addition to the Type 38 Carbine. Note has to be taken that in transportation units there used to also be uniformed coolies designated Transportation Special Duty Soldiers who were only issued the bayonet. Interestingly, of the pioneer branch units, sergeants and below in sapper units carried the Type 38 rifle and Type 30 bayonet while Railroad Units and Communication Troops which also belonged to the Pioneer Troops carried the type 30 Carbine. As for military policemen, all ranks (the lowest rank in the Military Police was superior private, who, unlike enlisted men in other branches except musicians, held the position of a government employee) carried the Type 32 Otsu Sword. In addition, it is stated in the notes that those military policemen stationed in Korea, Taiwan and Kwangtung be also issued the Type 38 carbine in addition to the Type 32 Otsu Sword and Type 14 pistol. I think the portion Bruce-san refers to in his post is Note 2 on the chart's margin which states that NCOs attached to 官衙 government offices, headquarters, materiel depots, etc. were to carry the Type 32 sword. The higher echelons in the army such as the Army Ministry, Army General Staff and the various administrative offices in the army were categorized as government offices. I forgot to mention in my previous post but on note 7 of the chart it is stated that the equipment of students 生徒 in the military academy is to be the same as enlisted men in the infantry, i.e., Type 30 bayonet and Type 38 rifle. Students in the first 2 years of the Military Academy prior to service in units were referred to as “students”, 生徒 whereas once they returned after having served for 6 months in units were referred to as “candidates”, 候補生. This tradition continued after the first 2 years was spun off as the Army Officer Preliminary School, 陸軍予科士官学校 dispelling the theory that the sword with the mei 予士63 in this thread was issued to students in the Army Officers Preliminary School: Mei: "Cadet 63"?"

Wow, John, you are absolutely right! looking through the JSI list, it could be: 清重 (Kiyoshige). I'll have to file this.

That's an odd one, Dean. I have a Shigenaga on file that used a stamped mei, but yours doesn't have the "naga." For the guys to comment on the age/school of the blade, you'll need to post a full-length photo and a couple of shots of the hamon and boshi.

Yeah, dealer prices always over the top.

Good catch John. I hadn’t noticed that. It goes along with the rest of the fittings not being gold gilded. Kind of supports the idea that they were using surplus parts initially.

Here's one that checks all the boxes at this St Croix sale: Type 95 Leather covered, tassel, battle damage, early matching Suya Shoten with accurate wrap with screw through the wrap: