Kiipu

As for the school and make, I would recommend posting the question in the "General Nihonto Related Discussion" forum. Be sure to provide the blade measurements and pictures of the bare blade with no fittings. The tip of the blade should be at the top and it does not hurt to place a yardstick in the picture as well. Sword Blade Measurement Good luck, Tristan!

The red painted character on the tang looks like the katakana character オ. オ = O, the letter and not the number zero 0.

The column in the middle is a name of a company. The last character translates to "store." 本？？株式會社？？店

The only thing that comes to mind is a post by Stegel back in February 2022. Yellow or Gold Tassels on Gunto, Post #13

Try doing a search on the Japanese term kanbun 漢文. About the correct translation of certain sword signatures

Made after the war for sale in the army's PX store. It made extensive use of wartime made parts.

Is that a large or small Seki 関 stamp? Can you measure the height of the stamp? Subassembly Number 一一五三 = 1153.

Based upon the bottom half of a snap fastener on the scabbard's leather combat cover, I think the hilt had some sort of leather strap for retaining the scabbard. Two different kinds come to mind, one that was a sort of leather seppa with strap while the second one wrapped around the fuchi. Both kinds then passed passed through the crossguard and snapped onto the scabbard.

A last name that can be pronounced as either Kuroda or Kurota. 黒田 Kuroda or Kurota

大 large or the first character in a name?

I would ask the owner what branch of the service his uncle was in during World War 2. Many are unaware that after the war American troops were stationed in China and they brought back many Chinese made items as war trophies.

Early Type 95 Scabbard or am I mistaken?

Where's Bruce when you need him! Must be signed in to read. The Mysterious Naval Landing Forces Sword

The following books are sold. 1. White, Doss H., and Francis C. Allan. Japanese Contract Rifles. Banzai Special Project 8. 2004. 2. Allan, Francis C., and Roger L. Wakelam. The Siamese Mauser. Banzai Special Project No. 1. 1987. 3. Japan. Army Technical Headquarters. ｢モ｣式小銃第（Ⅰ､ Ⅱ､ Ⅲ）型説明書 [Instructions for Type MO Rifle, Models (I, II, III). September 1939. Reprinted in 1998. 4. Japan. War Ministry. 手投彈藥九九式手榴彈(甲)及同(乙)取扱法 [Method of Handling Hand Thrown Ammunition Type 99 Hand Grenade A and B]. 06 October 1941. Reprinted in 1998. 5. Japan. Army Infantry School. ｢ロタ｣砲教練ノ參考 [Training Reference for ROTA Rocket Launcher]. May 1945. Reprinted in 1998.

Joseph, attached are pictures of serial number 13732 made by Suya. This is in the same serial number range as yours. Note the subtle differences between them.

Time is short today but it is a known reproduction. Ran into them some five years ago.

In the article, I noticed that Lieutenant General was used but then the Japanese pronunciation was given as shosa [Shōsa 少佐 Major]. Secondly, it seems he was a 軍属 gunzoku.

Lieutenant General Okada's first name was not mentioned in the article. He graduated from Osaka University in 1934 with a degree in chemical engineering. He worked for Mantetsu after graduation in a research center. In 1944, he was commissioned in the army. Captured by the Russians and did not return to Japan until 1966. When interviewed, he was 82 years old.

King, Dan. “Chatting Vets, Part VI: Subject: Lt. General Okada.” Banzai Issue 127 (November 1992): pages 300–303.

An anchor-in-circle Type 97 with a stamp on the bottom of the hilt. Very interesting. WW2 Japanese Type 97 Navy Officer Sword T97 Katana Naval Arsenal Stamp WWII

Flagging this as it has a double-stamped 昭 in sakura. Undated but signed by Amahide 天秀. Mal has a monograph about this swordsmith. WW2 Japanese T98 Army Officer Sword with Field Scabbard WWII Type 98 Katana

In the Suya 146K to 149K serial range, brass crossguards were the majority while steel was the minority. So both will show up, but just that the brass is more common. Looks OK to me. For comparison, see serial number 148224. Help with a bit of information on this type 95

I did a brief intro for guntō signatures. I covered the parts that come before and after a name. Reading Guntō Signatures For gendiatō signatures, I use Sesko's Gendaito Project to look them up. Gendaito Project

Not a dress sword, but does has a scabbard release latch mounted on the bottom of the hilt. Always thought it was interesting. A little introduction and my first kyu gunto!

The information that Trystan has provided above is about the history of the arsenal. As for the change that occurred in Type 95 arsenal jurisdictions, see Komiya sensei's post below. Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto