Bruce Pennington

Greg, The date is March 1943. I'm REALLY new at smith names, so I'll work on it, but there are lots of guys here who will probably get a name for you before I can!

Neil, I honestly don't have enough experience with the copper-handle gunto to say, and I've never read about an answer to why. I have read about the repair ops with Type 32's where it was common at the repair facility to file the ser# off the drag and restamp (I own one and the file marks are clearly visible), but have never heard that this was done to early 95's. Mine does not look like it was filed or modified. All I could say about it would be speculation. One possibility is that as the copper-handled 95's were the first of their kind, maybe the practice of stamping the saya wasn't standardized. I sort of doubt this, though, because they had been stamping matching numbers on type 32's for some time leading up to the 95. Another possibility is that the coppers were in the war the whole time. Maybe damage and/or loss brought in replacement throat pieces that were unstamped. I once saw a chart someone had drawn up of the known copper-handled guntos he had seen and if I understood it rightly, probably 2/3 of them had no number on the saya. So, another mystery!

Ha! I own one!

That's what they are going for these days. I paid $2,400 for mine, but that was a year ago.

Yes, low as in less than 6,000 (there were a few made over 6,000 but never 7,000). Fakes I've seen have numbers like 13,xxx or higher.

Good point Jean. I think the difference lies in that some of us are military/WWII fans and collectors vs someone who is an art sword collector. While we are both swords fans, we collect for different reasons. For me, the WWII follower, and gunto fan, the price isn't relevant, although I'd LOVE to get these cheaper!

Thanks Neil, it appears the Nagoya style bo-hi ends more rounded unlike the Kokura/Tokyo blades. The full length of it (bo-hi) is not as precisely cut, and the kissaki is more squarish. Good to know when trying to spot fakes and reproductions.

Neil, Can you post a pic of the kissaki end of the bo-hi on your gunto? I've never handled a Nagoya 95 and this being my first I was a little worried about the shape of mine. It's rounded vs the Kokura/Tokyo Arsenal blades that the end of the bo-hi follows the shape of the kissaki.

Thanks, Joe, very kind of you! Steve - yes! I'll have to collage some pics of my complete set and post. I'll have to decide which direction to take my hobby now. Admittedly, I don't have a COMPLETE set of Late war 95's, just a single representative. I also don't have a notable smith gendaito. So, I'll have to stew on it for a bit until something pops up.

Just got my Nagoya Type 95 version 3 today! Matching numbers: 134112, with Nagoya stamp on blade and one seppa. Someone in the past has tried to repaint the saya, but I'll attack that with some acetone. The nakago is really odd and appears to have been bent. There are hammer marks on the nakago mune. At first I thought it might have been damaged and a new end attached, but there is no observable seem, and the rough file marks seem to cover the bend unmolested. The ana have been widened to account for the bend. Peculiar, but then I enjoy the odd-balls! (takes one to know one, eh?!)

I've seen that TEC mark before, but my reference books are on loan at my brother's house! Does anyone have a Fuller & Gregory (or was it Dawson's) to have a look at this?

Wouter, I PM's Ian to see if he can repost a better pic of his mune with similar stamps.

No, Dating NCO gunto is tough. The serial numbers can give a really rough idea, but these were divided and assigned to various arsenals. What are your numbers?

Sorry, I haven't understood your question rightly - the serial number is only on the blade and the saya. Tsuba, seppa, and sometimes fuchi all have assembly numbers that are there during the manufacturing process. These are filed and fitted to each gunto, so they put simple numbers, like "5" or "41" etc, to keep them together until assembled. Although, this may be done more on officer gunto. I've just reviewed all my NCO gunto and I don't have any assembly numbers on my tsuba or seppa.

Well, seppa won't have a serial number. SOMETIMES they will have assembly numbers stamped in English (rarely in Japanese) that will match with seppa, fuchi, etc). As to removing the handle (tsuka), I like to do it but many guys don't, because once reassembled, there is always a little looseness to the whole thing. But if you are like me, and want to see everything, you'll notice the nut side has a special double pin that takes a special tool to hold while you turn the screw side with a screw driver. If it's rusted you might want to try some rust penetrant first. You'll also have to pry the tassel loop apart to unscrew the nut and bolt at the end of the handle. Here's a pic of the tool I use:

Suya shoten factory Tokyo First Inspector (small center stamp) Kokura Arsenal (4 cannonballs) They can be found here: http://ohmura-study.net/794.html

Yes, although there were several of the original copper-handled NCO gunto without serial numbers on the saya.

Barry, I like Barry's list, but on the other hand, it can depend on one's interest and budget. There are guys who specialize in NCO gunto, some Navy, some gendaito, etc. I went for a collection that is a fair representation of each of the official "types" of war gunto. A Yaskune Shrine sword with river stamp would be really cool, with general officer tassel, but I saw just a tassel for sale for $3,700! With sword, you might be paying over $6,000. For guys with limited fun-money, like me, I really love my Mantetsu Koa Isshin gunto and my copper-handled NCO! In the end, you realize, you're not going to be able to get Just ONE!

Chris, What a beauty! Great Star stamp too! Any idea what the circle stamp means?

Josh, While the flaws may keep this from being as valuable, financially, as a blade in intact/original condition, you have something that is clearly a piece of history. Hopefully one of the guys who can do translation will let us know what the signature line says. The canvas covering under the silk wrap on the handle indicates that this was made late in the war (at least the handle was, can't speak for the blade itself). The all-brown officer rank tassel matches, as this style was adopted late in the war as well. This may very well have been something of a "re-build" done by a late-war sword company under pressure to produce swords, but suffered from lack of supplies. Welcome to the collecting world!

If you google the term, you'll find a 1973 patent application for a steel mold process, applied for by: "Original Assignee Nippon Rutsubo Kabushiki Kaish" Kind of goes along with what Stephen is thinking.

I've noticed that too, Neil, but have never heard. It would be a question to put directly to a swordsmith I would think.

Fantastic! I have been told this style was designed by Takayama Masayoshi, who was an instructor at the Naval Academy in sword technique. His concept was developed after studying WWI trench warfare. The idea was draw, strike, kill with one blow. The more time spent hand-to-hand just increase the odds of someone else getting you from behind. So the blade is shorter, heavier, with more mass at the tip for more momentum. There are blades of this style signed by the smith as dedicated to Takayama, and called a Takayama-to. I've also discovered there was a "Takayama Prison" that was making war swords. So I don't know the actual source for our blades, but it's possible they were being made by the prison, or the style was just requested by the naval officer buying the sword. I've posted a couple of articles about Takayama below.

Is the other side unsigned? I have a navy gunto with the same Toyokawa Navy Arsenal stamp and the same sticker, unsigned. The blade is a bit different than normal, in the Takayama style with the fat kissaki tip, Looks like yours might be that way too?

Ed, the Anchor is the Toyokawa Naval Arsenal, the painted marks are for factory assembly, but the paper sticker is still a mystery. I have one that is just as unreadable, and have never seen one that is. Thanks for the pic!