Help please:WW2 nco gunto type 35 katana Machine Made 'Junk&

[Gogoto123]

WW2 Japanese NCO type 35 Katana : I was wondering if all of these machine made sword were junk or are they just not valued as true katanas but are still folded and tempered blades (just folded and tempered by machine)?

[Grey Doffin]

To my knowlege, all Japanese NCO swords are semi sharp pieces of steel, machine made, no folding or differential hardening involved. If someone knows better than I, let us know.

Grey

[Gogoto123]

Thank you very much. If anyone else knows different (or the same for that matter) please reply aswell.

[QuangD]

Gogoto123,

 

There is one instance where NCO contains "Yasu kuni blade". I think if my memory served me correctly was "Yasuyoshi". I was very surprised. However, the blade was bolted on the handle and the owner was forced to removed it. That is how he discovered the Gendaito blade. Most of the time, it is machine made but they are very sound after for militaria collection especially the early version with a copper handle.

[Stephen]

does it have a all metal tsuka or does it have wrapping on the handle sometimes i have seen shinguntos called NCOs.

[Gogoto123]

it is an all metal and looks authentic to the era. But I assume that, form the sounds of it, the vast majority of Machine made blades were not heat treated or folded. Is that true?

[Brian]

Yep. Probably 99.9% of all NCO's are just mass produced with no tempering or folding. They appeal only to the militaria collectors.

That Yasukuni blade in NCO fittings must be a very rare exception.

 

Brian

[Mark]

I once saw a NCO sword with an antique blade. It had not been changed since he war so must have been something custom for the NCO. That was rare, i bet i have seen a thousand NCO swords and this was the only one with other than machine made blade

 

Mark Jones

[kusunokimasahige]

Interesting! I just picked up my "Masayuki" blade in shin-gunto mounting, on which i will start a thread soon, it is definetely a commissioned officers blade, and Nihon-to/gendai-to, so no NCO one,

and i have discovered something which makes me even more certain it is by him....or it might even be older!! but more about that later...

 

The Numbers on the gunto seppa/tsuba all correspond and are of a fairly low count...

 

Now my question is this: are there or have there ever been number lists of gunto mountings and to whom they have been handed out...?

 

if so, do they still exist?

 

KM

[Brian]

The swords in question here are NCO shin gunto with the cast aluminium handles. There must be thousands of regular shin gunto with older family blades, and they are definitely not all that uncommon.

 

As for the serial numbers..these numbers on the tsuba, tsuka and seppa are assembly numbers, not serial numbers. They are to keep the whole lot together during assembly when they have been hand fitted. There are certainly no lists anywhere of any swords and to whom they have been issued to my knowledge.

 

Brian

[kusunokimasahige]

thanks for the info brian!!

 

I know in Germany WWII gear numbers are well documented, guess in Japanese WWII gear its different.

 

What was the reason there was a difference in NCO and CO mountings?

was it just troop distinction?

 

KM