Kiipu

It appears to be a 造兵刀 sword. The white painted characters on the tang are 七八 [78] and match the fittings. To rule out a Type 95 blade, the habaki would have to come off. A Type 95 has offset mune-machi and ha-machi, these are the notches that the habaki butt up against. I would like @BANGBANGSAN to take a look at this sword as he collects them. In the meantime, below is a link for you to look at. 造兵刀 Army Arsenal blade Edit: I forgot to mention that the tang also has a 東 inspection mark. The 東 inspection mark was used by Tōkyō Arsenal from 1932 to 1945.

@Ian B3HR2UH, there are a few more indexes available at The Japanese Sword Guide. GENDAI SWORDSMITHS AND OTHER SWORDSMITH INDEXES

Below are the two terms that were in use during the 1930s and 1940s. As stated already, they mean the same thing as far as the date is concerned. Japanese imperial year 皇紀 = kōki = Imperial era. 紀元 = kigen = era.

@brannow While these tassels are not boxed, they still have the wrapping paper that goes around the tassel. Generals Tassels The column on the left reads 軍刀用刀緒 while the two columns on the right could be patent information. 軍刀用刀緒 = Tassels for military sword use.

Found you another box to look at. Notice the label that is on the side. 准銀臺モール製/将官/刀緒/木箱入り/アンティーク・骨董品 ?號 = ?号 准銀臺 = 准銀台

東京 = Tōkyō. 中野商店 = Nakano Shōten. I could be wrong on the second character so @BANGBANGSAN or @SteveM will need to double check it.

The reason for wanting to see both sides of the handle can be seen at the link below. Compare yours to the "1st Pattern GIFU." Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto, Post #41

I would like to see pictures of the blade serial number with inspection mark and an overall view of the other side of the handle if possible. @Stegel may want additional pictures as well as this is an early Nagoya made Type 95. I see a small gap between the habaki and front seppa and hopefully someone can comment upon the looseness for you.

Just the yearly production records for fiscal years 1931 to 1940. The fiscal year began on April 01 so I would guess your sword was made in about mid 1939. Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto, Post #205

Thanks for the additional information. Your sword dates to circa 1939 and was assembled by Iijima, a well known Japanese sword company.

Sorry Trystan, I edited the post after the fact. The pictures posted by @cplnorton above are upside down and need to be rotated 180 degrees so as to see the company logo correctly. Thank you for transcribing the kanji characters on the tsuka.

@BANGBANGSAN Tsuka markings. @Bruce Pennington 山本 company logo. Edit: Turn the pictures upside down to see the characters properly.

Is there more than one Mitsunobu 光信? A Mitsunobu registered with the Seki guild on 1943-02-22. Below is the actual text. 刀匠名: 光信. 氏名: 岸･光弘. 受付年月日: S18.02.22 [S = 昭和]. Attention: @mecox

Now I am second guessing the first kanji! So I think you are correct, it is just too blurred to really know. As always, thanks for all your assistance.

@Putu The arrow in your picture is pointing to the kanji character 伊. This is not unusual for this swordsmith. 伊奈波 = Inaba. Stamp Alert! @Bruce Pennington

Is the scabbard painted black or is it some other color? Is the scabbard serial number matching to the blade serial number?

I have identified the following kanji characters in red ink 陸軍X and in black ink 七四二 so far. @BANGBANGSAN can you pitch in and help with the third kanji character in red? 陸軍? = army ?. 七四二 = 742.

I think the kanji character inside the logo is 田.

I found another one, serial 695 with no inspection mark. Help with inherited Sword The picture is out of focus but maybe 阪 2205? WW2 Japanese Katana Mystery Additional pictures of 阪 3490. Nagamitsu For Sale

The serial number range for these is as below. It is unknown if this was only used on Nagamitsu 長光 or for all production from Ōsaka Arsenal. 0 (zero) series: 阪 1867 to 阪 3991. 1st series: 阪 イ313. Three of them can be seen at this link Stamp Survey while 3991 can be found at Nagamitsu Type44 Mounting. New Today ! . I have one Gassan Sakakatsu but the order is reversed, 1 and then 阪. In addition, it is star stamped unlike the swords above so it could be unrelated. Star Stamped Sword Gassan Sadakatsu Rikugun Jumei Tosho

Is this sword, serial number い142, the same as the one pictured in his book that you illustrate at the link below? Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey, Page 17

The sword is a typical commercial sword sold to civilians during this time frame. Civilians wanted "samurai" style swords and not guntō style swords. Many of these swords ended up getting "drafted" [conscripted] into the military at a later date. 寿命十六年

Cross-reference to the same sword. Help with Shigetsugu Mei, Please!

@3rd Wave It is hard for me to tell from the pictures, but is the scabbard painted black? Also, is the scabbard matching to the blade serial number?

Sharp eyes you have there! copper-handle NCO sword questions