Bruce Pennington

One that we see occasionally, this one from Chris' thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29587-gunto-pedigree-id-requested/

The only one I have. The guys said it was originally "Fujiwara", but today there are a number of names tied to it. It's on a kaigunto with a sharkskin saya and a mumei, 500 yr old blade.

David, The rust layer obviously makes the stamp ID difficult, but I’m leaning to a “Na” of the Nagoya arsenal, so not like to be gendaito.

Tom, How about a pic of the serial number on the other side of the NCO blade?

Brandon, That looks like a kakihan at the end of the nakago. Who was the smith on this? I'd like to add it to the Stamps Document.

Denis, Nice job on the Bubba-paint removal. I have a 95 that was painted gold - even the blade!!! Acetone (which is what is in nail polish remover) does the trick without removing the original paint. It is slow and laborious work though, but worth it. The "while" handled gunto in pictures were actually wrapped in cloth to protect the handles. Many pictures of the practice out there.

Stephen, I tried to "Like" your post and got this message: "An error occurred You have reached your quota of positive votes for the day" HA! didn't know there was a daily limit to the number of Likes we could post!

George, I'm going to kick this one back to you, my friend! You clearly know more about mon already than I will ever know! Ha! I've done some digging in the past, and it seems like a difficult area to study for a non-Japanese speaker. Not much English based data on them. Neil, very interesting kabutogane - with drilled out "loops" in the design!

Great video Matt!!! Definitely LONG swords. Myths and legends are hard to put down as the word-of-mouth netword spreads them exponentially. One of the great things about this forum is we get to collect evidence and bring clarity to our collecting world.

Barry, To add some more specifics: 1. Type 98 (could be a Type 94, with second hanger-loop missing) Japanese Officer gunto, with Company grade tassel (Lt's and Capt's). Agree with all that the spacers usually are found on better quality swords. 2. Navy officer dirk 3. ???? awaiting more pics 4. Could be an old blade in "civil" mounts. Pics of nakago (tang) and blade would be needed for more info.

Good catch, Neil! I'm on the road and don't have my books, can you give us the context of the "advertisement"? Was it a wartime, Japanese ad?

Carlos, So, for sure - Police. I've attached a photo from Dawson's book showing this. Sorry, I meant to answer your question about the "26" - on shingunto, the numbers are to keep fitted parts together as the blade goes through polish and re-assembly. I can only surmise that the numbers on kyugunto were used for the same purpose. I've never read, nor heard, a knowledgable discussion on that issue. They have no other meaning that I'm aware of.

Neil, Richard Fuller found the same phenomena, and speculated that they were prefered by Naval land forces workng with the army. He has another variation where a navy gunto is mounted in leather combat cover, 1 haikan, and even has white same'.

Carlos, I'd really like to see a picture of the blossom on the endcap. Likely it is the 5 petal version, which is the police, but I'd like seeing it, if possible. Dating is near impossible with these. They came out as early as 1886, and there was a uniform revision at 1906, but I think most of these we see were made in the 1920's and '30's. Once the shingunto's came out, I doubt they were still making these anymore, but they were still carried throughout the full length of the war. They were the sword of the era from the Japanese-Russo and early Japanese-Sino wars.

The small stamp is “Gi” for Gifu. An inspector stamp indicating non-traditionally made.

Steven, for a non-nihonto guy, what are you asking about when you ask "whats the odds of the 3rd one being great as well." Thanks!

Carlos, Dawson lists this as version 4 of "patrolman and sergeant's sword" under his chapter on Police swords. Yours is slightly different from his example, but there was a vast amount of variants during those years of early sword production. Is that a flower, or crest on the end of the handle? If so, that often tells a lot.

You should post it on the translation assistance forum. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/forum/15-translation-assistance/ There is a lot more on the nakago than just that.

John, thought I’d add this one to your thread: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29400-help-needed-identifying-gunto-sword-wwii/

Another one Neil, all the paint gone, and even a bullet hole in the saya! A ‘44 blade in it. http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29400-help-needed-identifying-gunto-sword-wwii/

That’s a beauty Barry! Have you gotten a translation yet?

I agree Steve, good eye on that poorly struck 9! March ‘44 Mr Thunder, or may I call you Rolling?, it’s a Type 98 Japanese Officer sword (gunto). Sad shape but cool battle damage. You can read about them at this great site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

Alex, Nice one! I'm not sure why you call it "different". Is it the shorter, wider blade? In Dawson's book, you can see that there were multiple variations on these. In your picture with it next to the Field grade sabre, it almost appears to have a real combat blade by the curvature and shape, although, I can't see a hamon. Only way to be sure would be to remove the handle, and that is probably not easy with the 19's. Ohmura's site calls the handle material "buffalo" and the cord a Company grade that began in 1912. That's all I have, but I don't study this type.

Thanks George! I ran the training question by Chris, and here's his reply: "Outside of the Army’s arsenals, as mentioned previously, the Army did not train smiths. The Army provided a set of specifications and the testing protocol for acceptance into the program. Applicants submitted 2 blades for testing. If the blades passed, they were contracted with and were supplied charcoal by their prefectural governor and tamahagane by the military. Their blades were to be made according to the Army’s specs, as mentioned, and inspected as I related earlier. Anyone could apply- you simply completed the application and submitted your 2 blades for testing."

Chris, I ran this question by Chris Bowen and got the following info. I forgot to pursue the question of exactly how the smiths were trained to meet RJT standards (or if they were simply given written specs). I'll update if I get more. From Chris: "The RJT program was more than just a set of rules and regulations specifying the parameters of construction of the sword blades- it also laid out the procedures for acceptance and participation in the program, the testing to gain acceptance, the smith’s obligations, the army’s contribution, etc. As for how it was administered, I do know that the army had both arsenal smiths and contracting smiths working all over who made blades for the program. The Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun Zoheisho, for example, had several smiths making blades for the program. There were similar arsenals employing RJT smiths in Kokura and Osaka. Conversely, as you theorized, correctly, there were Army admins who supervised field inspectors who made the rounds inspecting and collecting swords from smiths working at forges outside those owned and operated directly by the Army. Enomoto Sadayoshi, who was a RJT smith working in Mishima, Shizuoka, told me that during the later war years, Yoshihara Kuniie, who was both the head supervising smith at the Tokyo Arsenal, and a field inspector for the program, would come by once a month and inspect Sadayoshi’s monthly output. Those blades that met the standards were stamped with a star and bundled up and taken by Yoshihara to Tokyo. I imagine this is how things worked across the country."