Bruce Pennington

I suspect this was made very late war, possibly in occupied areas. It appears to have originally had a haikan (belt hanger) where I've put this arrow, and likely a leather cover that is now missing. The tsuba (hand guard) was made to go with a leather cover, as it has the side-hole for a leather retention strap. It is only because of your knowledge that your grandfather brought this home that I say this, as the workmanship of the blade and fittings doesn't really match Japanese qualities. Without your provenance, I would have assumed it to be a replica made for tourists. I don't mean any disrespect as this is a family heirloom brought back by your grandfather.

This is the main part we need to see. If the photos are too big, you can try the Edit function on your photo viewer to crop them a bit. If that isn't enough, google "free photo resizer" and you can reduce the MBs of your photo.

Ok, we do run into that now and then. Problem is these often got dirty inside, or wet, and grit can hold the parts in place. Also, sometimes the fit can be a little too tight where the nakago goes through the spacers/guard. I wrap a thick cloth tightly around the blade, so I can grip it with my left hand, and use a rubber mallet, or block of wood, etc, to give a moderate 'whack' on alternating sides of the guard. You won't hurt anything be doing this. And you'll see that you are able to dislodge them so they will slide off.

Example of the leather officer belt, Field grade and General officer, posted by Squale69 at this Warrelics thread.

Yes. I don't think anyone has an idea, though. I did just come across a similar one posted by Akira Komiya on this Wehrmacht-awards thread. Like yours, Ian, it has the sword loop, or holster, a pocket for the mekugi nuki, and on the right you see a buckled arrangement that I bet served the same purpose as your item in question:

While we wait for better photos, I can tell you that the tsuka (handle) and tusba (hand guard) are of the contingency model variation of the Army officer sword. No official nomenclature, but commonly called the Type 3 Army officer gunto. The saya (scabbard) has been switched to this field saya, which was wood covered with leather. The leather covers often go missing over the decades. The style was designed in 1938, released to the public in 1940, but never got popular until 1943/44. Like the guys said, that screw in the handle comes out easily, then you must tap/push the bamboo peg out. I circled this side of it. You'll want to push it out from the other side. The other side may be under a section of wrap, but it's easy to slip something pointy under the wrap to push it. Here is a picture of one of mine showing how to reach the peg: The handle and guard will simply slide off once these two are removed.

Kris, welcome to NMB! Do you know if he served at the end of the war and/or during the post-war occupation? Any idea when/where he picked this up? I don't study civil blades and fittings, so take this with a grain of salt, and I could be wrong, but the metal-work of the fittings strike me as something made for tourists and souvenir seekers. But they guys that know those things can chime in to clear me up or confirm. The blade looks legit, and possibly made during WWII for the civil market. If you want the blade experts to evaluate it, take some shots of the bare blade, on a dark surface (light surfaces mess with the auto-light-sensing camera functions). A couple close shots showing the hamon (temper line) if you can see it, and one of the blade tip. Measurements, like in this chart, will prove useful too.

From the Warrelics thread, linked above, Akira Komiya has posted regulation three regulation changes and comments. I found it interesting that prior to 1912 the officer belts, on reverse side, were to be colored leather (blue & red). Don't think I've ever seen an example of that. Also interesting was the depiction of Warrant Officer belts: "Here are drawings from the Meiji 19 (1886), Meiji 45 (1912) and Showa 13 (1938) uniform regulations showing the evolution of officers' and warrant officers' sword belts. (There were no changes to the specifications in the interim uniform regulation changes.) The biggest change is that until the 1938 regulations, warrant officers had their own sword belts; non-cavalry warrant officers with a single layer leather belt without backing nor the hook and eye adjustment, and the hanger straps lacking the carbine hooks of officers belts, and cavalry warrant officers having a leather hanger strap with carbine hook in lieu of officers chain hangers. The obverse was specified to be 護謨革, rubber coated leather = patent leather before the Showa 13 regulation changes when it became plain black leather (calf leather). The reverse of non-cavalry officers sword belts were initially specified to be of the appropriately colored leather, red for generals and field grade officers, blue leather for company grade officers, but from the Meiji 45 specifications it could be either colored leather or woolen material. The Showa 13 (1938) regulations done away with the warrant officers' sword belts and warrant officers were to wear the same belts as company grade officers with a blue backing. Also, the Showa 13 regulations show only a single hanger strap in accordance with the adoption of the Type 98 sword with a single hanger ring. "

Here is another unusual field belt posted by Geoff Ward on this Warrelics thread. It has a pocket for a folding knife with can opener:

Linking Ian's post, @Ian B3HR2UH showing field belts with unusual features:

Ian, I'm just now starting to learn about the belts, so I'm of no use here. Hopefully, someone will recognize it. I've linked your post to the pinned reference thread on sword belts. I'm starting to get the idea that these canvas field belts were highly customizable. I've posted one on the other thread with a folding knife in a small pocket

I don't want to expand our forum into uniform and field gear items, but sword belts are a popular item for guys and they are directly associated with military swords. I think anything with the word "sword.." in it's name is fair game, right? So, I've created this to be a reference thread for sword belt collectors, just like the tassel thread. Both the Fuller and Dawson books have a section on them, which I've just gone through. NCO belts were brown, all leather. These were posted by Kohima on this Warrelics Thread. There is no colored liner on the backside, as in officer belts. There is an officer belt that has no colored fabric on the backside, called the Sam Brown belt, discussed on @kissakai's thread here: Also discussed on this Warrelics Thread. They were Navy: According to Adachi, "Regarding the Sam Brown belts, they are regulation as per the naval landing force uniform regulations set forth in 1933. They are supposed to be worn by all NLF officers, even when the sword is not in use. They had already become a defacto standard by at least 1927, as almost every NLF officer in Shanghai had one." This is an example (as far as I know!) of a normal Navy belt. Posted by @tokashikibob HERE. Army officer belts were black with blue or red fabric liners. Company grade were blue, Field grade and General officer red. Posted by @IJASWORDS HERE. This picture actually shows a four army styles (from bottom) - Field grade, Company grade, NCO, and canvas Field belt, which I believe is an officer belt.

You can read up on the Navy kaigunto here: Naval Officer Sword - Ohmura Site Care and cleaning: Japanese Sword Care Navy swords sell for a bit more than army gunto as there are less of them to be found. On average, they can start as low as $1,800 USD but normally sell for over $2,000. If it's got a valuable blade, it can go even higher. So, it's important to see what's in it. They are welcome to offer it for sale on NMB's For Sale: Edged Weapons page. Otherwise you are looking at ebay or one of the many auction houses.

Supporting that idea is the nut securing the nakago on the pommel. Yes, right out of Dawson's book, pages 303-305. Identical. Dawson says the police were divided into Patrolman, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Superintendent. This is the Patrolman/Sergeant version.

Rats. That is the difficulty in trying to find replacement parts. Almost every gunto had parts specifically fitted for it, so there is quite a range in almost every one. I don't see a problem with the spring resting on the wood, unless it doesn't push the button up high enough. You might try raising the surface of the wood by laying something firm between the wood and spring, like a piece of sheet metal or plastic. Otherwise, you're stuck with buying multiple latches, if you can't get a refund.

No, I use the thread for educational purposes. All are welcome, though, to post tassels that expand our knowledge and data base.

Not in as good of condition as John's, but another kaigunto with black leather cover. For sale on this St. Croix Blades page.

Ah, I see! It's not removable. I thought you were saying that it was "one" with the saya, like an all-leather saya, or cemented to a wooden saya. Can you tell if the material is actually leather? They were making some artificial leathers, like pressed paper and pressed fabrics.

Ok, right. He is just describing the wooden saya covered with leather. The translation system he used for that site was pretty antiquated and not real good. I would like to see some shots of your saya. Sounds unique.

Justin, I tried finding Ohmura's page on that, but couldn't. Can you post a link? Not all officers used leather covers. There are plenty of photos showing officers in the field with standard metal fittings and no covers. I've never read anything that discussed when or why an officer decided to use them. Since they had to buy their own swords, I suspect it might have come down to money. Some came from affluent families/backgrounds, some were poor. It could also simply have been a matter of taste and aesthetics. The late-war saya I've seen tend to have crudely painted wood (black). I don't think I've noticed any real difference in the leather, although there were some synthetics that showed up near the end of the war.

I fixed the photos. Hi Justin, You may already know, but you have a Type 97 Navy officer sword there, or kaigunto. You can read about them on Ohmura's site: Naval Officers Kaigunto - Ohmura This should be your smith: "KANEMORI (兼守), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanemori” (兼守), real name Nishida Rin´ya (西田林弥), born March 14th 1883, he worked as a guntō smith died September 19th 1944" Be sure not to use sandpaper or a buffer on the blade. They will ruin it. Here's a good page for care and cleaning: Japanese Sword Care. You might check up higher on the nakago (tang) for small stamps that may be up there. The saya (scabbard) is a custom job, covered in stingray skin. Would have looked really nice.

Same here. Two days without trouble.

I was initially tempted to say this was done by sailors or G.I.s on the way back home, but it looks to have plenty of wear & tear. Could have been done in the field.

Oooo, good eye John!