Bruce Pennington

兼房 (Kanefusa) is my guess, but I wouldn't put much weight on that!

The date is January, 1944. Hopefully someone will translate the smith name. I'll see what I can do, but I'm new at the names.

Phillip, You have a Japanese Army Officer Type 3 Shingunto. You can read about them here: http://ohmura-study.net/952.html. Don't be afraid to take the handle off, it's made to come off easily, simply push the bamboo peg out from the others side. The handle will slip right off. If it's on tight I like to grab both sides of the hand guard and wiggle side to side, which scoots the handle back a bit and loosens it. Once you do, most likely there will be a swordsmith name on one side and a date on the other, all in Japanese of course. Take pics, blade pointed up, and post here for translation. This are usually dated from 1943 - 1945, but we'll see when you take it apart.

Neil, you've got quite an excellent collection, don't you! There are a couple of guys on these forums who are real NCO experts and collectors. One showed a pic of some of his that included a late model painted all white for winter ops! I'm about to reach the point in saving my fun-money that I'm ready to buy my last NCO that I need to complete the set I've been building. All I need is the version 3, the Nagoya with side latch. I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do after that. I don't have all the late-war variants. Since they're getting more expensive it's probably time for me to go in that direction, since I seem to be unable to buy gunto at cheap prices! Your post challenged me to question what it is about WWII gunto that has my interest over nihonto in general. Partly it is because of a general fascination I have with WWII, but another part is that they feel more compartmentalized, more attainable that swords made over 1,000 years. That's just too vast for me. For the same reason, I like the NCO gunto. They are more specific and definable than officer gunto, which can vary considerably with custom fittings and ancient blades. Of course, after collecting for a couple of years, I was amazed to start realizing the seemingly endless variations of the NCO gunto! Ahhh!! Is nothing precise anymore???? Some of us need order!

Neil, Never seen that before either! The habaki is a higher quality, and with the little view we have of the fuchi, it appears pretty high quality too. It's possible this was a custom job with higher quality work which would account for the specialized koiguchi. Can't address the saya without more pics. There were uncovered wooden saya, but they were painted/laquered. Saya intended for leather covers usually had different ashi than uncovered ones. Pics will help. Looks like you've got another beauty.

You know, this subject is interesting enough, I wonder if we couldn't get it "stickied" or "pinned", as it's worth more investigation and discovery?

Ha! Good reminder Dave! Never say never or always with WWII gunto! Good observation though, Shamsy! I wonder if the labels were something unique to Seki operations, or something initiated late in the war to try to keep quality from dropping too far?

From the Japaneseswordindex, here is an example I was talking about. There are more like this, each with a different logo inside the Seki circle: Seki Hyaku Tan Sha Token Sei Saku Jo This company was located in Seki city. They offered a complete line of services, including old blades, newly made gunto, polishing, and koshirae. They also made gunto.

Both these labels have the same circular Seki manufacturer logo. The circle is actually a stylistic "Se" over the top and "Ki" around the bottom, with the factory's logo in the middle. I am on the road and don't have my books so I don't know if this One is known. But the Seki area had quite a number of factories working and each one might have had their own logo. The label appears to be an inspection/approval and is called "rare" in the F&G book. http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?651898-Have-you-ever-seen-this-before-on-a-wwii-Japanese-sword Here are two others recently posted:

That's the third one I've seen in the last couple of weeks! Fuller & Gregory has a picture of one.

Well, gentlemen, this discussion, like all collecting "preferences" are just that - personal preferences. We are individuals with differing likes and philosophies. While David's points are perfectly true, there is more to it for some of us (like the difference on nihonto lovers vs gunto lovers; between never clean or restore vs restore to original condition). It all depends upon one's heart and reason for collecting. I will probably do what Neil proposes. If my daughter isn't interested (or her husband) I will find someone who will honor what my collection represents and pass it over.

Good one Piers! You got me! Neil, good topic for discussion. The last of the WWII generation are gone, almost completely, and these swords and what they represent are coming to us from their grown children. We are bearers of thousands of legacies. As a hobby, it is fun and something we enjoy, but we all know that it represents something more, don't we.

Obviously family and/or friends deserve to benefit from our collections when we pass on, but if anyone lacks an appropriate affictionado --- PM ME!!!!!

Neil, Shamsy (Steve) and Stegel are the real pros on NCO gunto! I just addictively prowl the forums more frequently! Steve answered your numbering question. On the overstriking, that seems pretty normal on the late-war 95s. All the Type 95s have been going up in price this year, but the late war versions are really going up.

Neil, I can barely make out the Tokyo inspection stamp on one blade, but can't see the other one clearly enough. Do you know what stamp it bears? Usually the larger drag is from the Nagoya Arsenal and the smaller from the Tokyo Arsenal.

Sure, Steve, here's both sides and one after I cleaned it (please don't hate me! I clean all my gunto, but keep pics for proof of condition when I get them).

Craig, I got mine on Amazon for about $11 USD. Got yourself a gorgeous gunto there my boy! Do yourself a favor and take some pics of the blade, without the fittings and repost. Looks like an older blade than WWII to me - 2 mekugi holes, worn or reshaped blade tip, squared-off nakago (tang end). The tsuba (hand guard) is a more expensive upgrade, and the fact that it came with the rank tassel is a bonus!

Corry, that's a beautiful gunto. $1,000 is a minor-steal for that!

Ok, hate to be one of those guys who takes a thread off in another direction BUT: I've got a Type 95 with an edge that feels like it was never sharpened. Since you've brought it up - is this normal? I simply wrote it off to human error, so many swords to polish, sharpen, etc.

Peter, The small stamp near the tsuba (handguard) is the "Showa" stamp. Controversy still exists as to it's meaning, but the general consensus is it was put on mass produced military swords that were not made in the traditional manner. It depends upon the blade, though, as there are examples of swords with the stamp that were papered at Shinsa as traditional.

My first couple of NCO gunto, I used 2 sets of plyers, but realized they cut into the metal of the loop! Ouch! I simply pad the plyers with cloth now, but Stephen's idea is quite ingenious!

Hi Your date if correct- 1944. Someone else will have to confirm the smith name for you. Nice gunto, the saga looks like it probably originally had a leather cover. The belt hanger style and fuchi style are typical of that. Many gunto didn't have stamps, don't know why. It isn't unusual though.

Wow, I've never seen one with such art work down the blade like that!

You called it Dude! The book says "government ministers, generals,admirals,and the governors-general of the largest colonies."

I'm afraid my nephew is reading my reference books, or I'd take a look. Can you get us some clear pics of the metal parts of the saya (scabbard)?