Kiipu

Cross-Reference Early sword in resting scabbard

A pretty straight forward Suya dating toward the end of the war. This is the second to last variation made by them. The last variation is the same as yours except the blade fuller was discontinued starting at about serial number 154529. The scabbard is also made by Suya except it is for an earlier sword. I would not worry too much about the mismatched scabbard though. It is a good sword and will display nicely.

Your sword is a 15th series Mantetsu made by the South Manchuria Railway Company (SMR). It is a commercial pattern and is dated Spring 1941. This is the sixth 15 series Mantetsu recorded so far and the serial number range is ヨ11 to ヨ352. Tang top: ヨ 五七 = YO-57. Obverse: 昭和辛巳春 = 1941 Spring. Reverse: 興亜一心　満鐵作之 = Kōa Isshin　Mantetsu saku kore. 満鐵 is an abbreviation for SMR so 満鐵作之 simply means "SMR made this" or "made by SMR." If possible, can you post a picture of the overall view with the scabbard placed below the blade. And finally, a picture showing the entire tang, either side will do. This is so that yours truly can count the holes in the tang!

I see nothing wrong with your bayonet other than it needs a good cleaning. The bayonet is a JB-59 made by Matsushita Metal Co., Ltd., 松下金属株式會社. It would have been made sometime between 1939 and 1944. There are two books on the topic of Japanese bayonets and they are both listed on the bibliography page. Bibliography of Japanese Modern Edged Weapons, 1868-1945

Beat you to it. Attention Mantetsu Owners: A Survey, Page 17

Pictures of the serial number posted in a new thread. Late war gunto stamps follow-up

Source: Allan, Francis C., and Carl J. Goddard. The Japanese Naval Special Type 99 Rifles and Carbines. Anchorage, Alaska: AK Enterprises, 1999. Page 36. @Shamsy & @Stegel I thought you two might enjoy this passage about paint in regards to naval manufactured rifles. I know Stegel has mentioned the use of both gloss and matte black paint and I found it interesting that both were noted on the rifles. Hope this helps in your scholarly endeavors.

For those wondering what Shamsy is referring to, a picture of one can be seen at the link below. The plug at the bottom of the scabbard is U-shaped; hence, horseshoe. Type 95 Nco Copper Hilt

It is atypical for a sword in this serial number range to have a 東 inspection mark after the serial number. However, @Stegel might override me on this factoid.

Cross-Reference QUESTION RE "DAI NIPPON" NEWSLETTER LATE '60s, EARLY '70s Attention @Bazza

“News of the Day.” The Age. 1893-01-27. Pages 4-5. See specifically page 5, column 1. Kobayashi, Ushisaburo. Military Industries of Japan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1922. Page 45.

I do not recall there being a Japanese newsletter by the name of "Dai Nippon" during this time frame that was devoted to militaria collecting. However, the Australian swords were marked in kanji with 大日本製 [Dai Nippon-sei]. I am wondering if they are getting the sword markings mixed up with a newsletter's name?

The WAF is off-limits to nonmembers. So, this leads to the following questions. What type of sword is this, army, navy, civilian? Do you have pictures of both sides of the tang? Are there any other inspection type marks on the tang? The kanji character that is depicted is 撿 which can mean several things. https://nihongomaster.com/Japanese/dictionary/kanji/7953/撿

Hi Tony, nice gendaito! Does your blade by chance have any markings on the top of the tang (nakago mune) by the habaki? These are the three ク I have so far. Bruce may have more though. I think this was a numbering system used by Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal for "Star" stamped blades made during the 1943 to 1944 timeframe. ク0122 = See above. ク0306 = Obverse 昭和十九年一月吉日; Reverse ☆　上州住今井兼継作 [Kanetsugu]. Source: Slough, page 71. ク0705 = Obverse ☆　継延作 [Tsugunobu]; Reverse 昭和十九年七月日. Source: Ohmura, both his book and website. He has the number incorrectly listed though as 70-5. "Mumei", "Tsugunobu" & "Ikeda Kunitada"

The クprefix is thought to be for Gunma Prefecture 群馬縣. This is the earliest KU prefix recorded so far. Obverse: 昭和十八年八月日 = A day in August 1943. Reverse: ☆　継義作　ク122 = ☆　Tsuguyoshi saku　KU122. @Bruce Pennington

This is one of only a handful of swordsmiths that stamped their signature rather than carve it. His name is Naohiro 直弘. There are several references to him but below is a link to just one of them. Read on for few posts as the discussion goes on for a bit. Thanks for the additional pictures. Arsenal Stamps., Page 14

Cross-reference to the same sword but a different forum. Navy Officers Sword Thanks Mal for the help.

I do not recall running into a 東 & M combination on a nakago before.

As previously indicated, a very common inspection mark. I have seen the M (yamagata) stamped multiple times on the same part. To illustrate what I am talking about, see the picture 5b linked to below. This component part is stamped four times with the yamagata M partial inspection mark. REMOVED;Japanese Type 2 Grenade Launcher

See post #5 for a picture of Vice Admiral Yamaguchi's 山口多聞 naval dirk along with the box that goes with it. The blade for it can be seen in post #11. Summer Trip to Japan: Yasukuni Shrine --- Dai Tō-A Sensō (The Great East Asia War) Exibition Wikipedia English: Tamon Yamaguchi Japanese: 山口多聞 Chinese: 山口多聞

Cross-Reference Chinese Cannon - Pictures Added I thought others might enjoy looking at this GBF thread.

I think both wartime and postwar blades were used. Another possibility is that wartime swords were scrapped and the blades reused? One thing I have noticed is the cutoff tangs on these. Is this a sign of a postwar made blade? Do any wartime blades have this feature? With all that said, I have not really looked at these swords from a manufacturing point of view.

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.