Japanese Type 95 Sword for NCOs

[wiktor69]

Hello everyone.
This sword was found under the floor in an abandoned house.
I think the number is useful for information.

[Kiipu]

Thank you for the photo-essay.  As you already know, it is a mid-production Type 95 Military Sword that was made by Iijima, one of the main contractors for Kokura Arsenal.

[BANGBANGSAN]

2 hours ago, wiktor69 said:

Hello everyone.
This sword was found under the floor in an abandoned house.
I think the number is useful for information.

 

 

 

 

Was it found in an abandoned house in Russia?

The first Kanji looks like 関 ,the second one kind of like 野，but I'm not sure.Maybe @Kiipu @george trotter can help.

 

 

 

 

[wiktor69]

Trystan,

yes, it was found in the Artyom, not far from Vladivostok. I bought it before Christmas and received the parcel yesterday.

Kanji is hard to see, but it's interesting to know its meaning. Maybe someone has a clearer picture.

 

 

[wiktor69]

5 hours ago, Kiipu said:

Thank you for the photo-essay.  As you already know, it is a mid-production Type 95 Military Sword that was made by Iijima, one of the main contractors for Kokura Arsenal.

Thomas, thank you too.
Is it possible to determine the approximate year of manufacture from the number?

[wiktor69]

One more detail. I was surprised).

A simple method of sealing the elements of the handle is applied.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Victor,

Nice one!  The blade seems to be in decent shape.  You the tsuka and saya could be restored with a re-paint.  Some collectors prefer to leave gunto in the condition they were found in, as it is the "life of the blade".  Some will restore.  I have one Type 95 that I repainted.  It looks too new and too good, so it's not ideal, but it's better than the gold paint it arrived in.  Even the blade had been painted gold.  I had a buddy who paints model airplanes do the tsuka, and I did the saya.  Hard to get the WWII Army green just right.

 

On another note, I have 5 Type 95s on file with the "W" or "M" stamp and 3 of the 5 are Iijima blades.  One is a Kobe and the 5th is steel fuchi, but probably Seki.  All 5 are Tokyo blades.

[wiktor69]

Bruce,

special thanks to you for introducing me to this forum. (Your publications on Guns.ru) There is a very competent community here and a lot of interesting information. 

The blade of the sword is really very well preserved. Thanks to two wide dents in the scabbard, the blade got stuck in the wooden elements. As for painting, I'll think about it, but most likely I'll leave it as it is. There is a lot of paint left on the scabbard and it does not crumble.

[Kiipu]

12 hours ago, wiktor69 said:

Is it possible to determine the approximate year of manufacture from the number?

 

Yes and I can narrow it down to late 1942 and early 1943.  By early 1943, I mean prior to April 1943.

 

12 hours ago, wiktor69 said:

Kanji is hard to see, but it's interesting to know its meaning. Maybe someone has a clearer picture.

 

I have never seen this marking before but it does look like 関 as Trystan indicated.  Hard to tell what the second character is though without having another example to compare to.

 

The other character on the wood handle liner looks like 大 which means "large".

 

Victor, below are two links about Type 95s that you might enjoy looking at.  Start with the first one and then move on to the second one.

IJA Type 95 NCO Sword Info

Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto

[wiktor69]

2 hours ago, Kiipu said:

Victor, below are two links about Type 95s that you might enjoy looking at.  Start with the first one and then move on to the second one.

 

Thomas,

thank you very much for the links, this is really very interesting to me.

[Smee78]

Welcome Victor,

 

I always find it interesting to see where these swords end up. I would expect to find more German WW2 items than Pacific WW2 items? Interesting sword, glad you shared it with us.

[wiktor69]

Ron, thank you
we have much more German militaria here, and the Japanese come across to a limited extent and often in this form (photo from Guns.ru) :

[Brian]

Laws in Russia are pretty strict regarding certain edged weapons. I know they are crazy strict about bayonets and "cold weapons" but I'm assuming there are no problems with swords?
It was funny a few years ago when I used a translator to ask on guns.ru if anyone could assist me with finding a rare mechanism for my NRS/NRS2 (HP2/HPC2) Spetsnaz knives....there was deathly silence followed by a swift ban
They don't like to discuss such items.
(Btw, still looking for any such items )

[Stegel]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:53 PM, wiktor69 said:
Is it possible to determine the approximate year of manufacture from the number?

Welcome Victor,

I would place the manufacture date of your Sword at mid 1942, most likely in July.

Thanks for sharing your sword with us here.

[Kolekt-To]

What direction are you headed with your collection? All types of gunto? Just Type 95's? What's your vector Victor?

[wiktor69]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:00 AM, Kolekt-To said:

 What's your vector Victor?

I collect militaria and faleristics of the WWI and WWII.

Finished this sword today. It turned out well.

Horseshoe shape with inspection mark?

 

 

 

[BANGBANGSAN]

It's 社 Mark for the army arsenal subcontractors

 

 

 

[Kiipu]

Wow, the sword cleaned up nicely!  As indicated by Trystan above, it is a factory inspection mark used by civilian companies working on army contracts.  The appearance of this inspection mark indicates the scabbard was made by a civilian company and not an army arsenal.

Arsenal Stamps., Page #14

[wiktor69]

Trystan, Thomas,

thank you very much for the detailed information.
Now it’s clear why there is another brand on the wooden part of the scabbard.

[Kiipu]

11 hours ago, wiktor69 said:

Now it’s clear why there is another brand on the wooden part of the scabbard.

 

I had not thought about that and it is an interesting observation.  I think @Stegel would like to mule it over as well.

[Stegel]

Not sure if i've missed something, but, are we saying the stamps on the liners are private sub-contractor stamps?

I did know about the Sha stamp appearing on scabbard drags, indicating non-arsenal production and IJA acceptance.

So this would be correct and in line with what we would expect.

I've never pulled liners out from scabbards to be aware of any markings, but it would make sense.

 

Victor, you have done well with the sword, it has cleaned up nicely!

[AzWaterboy]

Hello. Being pretty new to this forum, I hope that I am on the correct page to ask this question...I recently bought a Type95 Shin Gunto, and then did what everyone says not to do, and removed the Tsuka.This is what I found underneath. Can anyone translate this, and would you mind commenting on the significance if any?

[PNSSHOGUN]

It would help to see photos of the mounts and blade to verify if it's completely fake.

[Bruce Pennington]

Welcome Patrick! @AzWaterboy

 

You're already showing good judgement by reaching out for help on this.  I'm with John, and doubt this is legit.  Please show us some photos of the whole sword with emphasis on the stamps on the handle (tsuka), blade with serial number, and handle overall. 

[AzWaterboy]

I will have to load them in a few posts, as they appear to be too large.

[AzWaterboy]

[AzWaterboy]

[AzWaterboy]

Last one. Bruce I just had a look at some the previous posts, and came across one that you commented on regarding the Almite coating that some of these had.

Edited October 19, 2023 by AzWaterboy
Added more information

[John C]

Patrick:

I am far from an expert on the type 95, however the tuska and tsuba look legit to me. That said, the blade is giving me some concern.

1) the bohi is cut crooked and has that tapered ending toward the tip that is typical on fakes (look at the top of this page for an example of a real one).

2) the style of numbering is wrong. I believe a different font was used.

So maybe some real parts on a fake blade?? Not sure.

John C.

[PNSSHOGUN]

The whole thing appears suspect unfortunately.