Type 95 Shin Gunto Advice?

[flightlessgreeb]

Hello all! I discovered this forum in the course of trying to bring myself up to speed on shin gunto NCO swords as thats become a recent topic of interest for me. I'm mainly a firearms collector but have been thinking about branching out into the world of edged weapons and, having some Japanese heritage I thought this might be the right path for me. By coincidence, a collector I've had dealings with in the past offered me a Type 95 (I believe?) that he indicated has been in his family for decades as part of his late father's collection. This would be part of a package deal with another piece and, since I'm such a neophyte in this area, I thought it prudent to reach out to the experts to determine if there were any issues with this potential purchase. 

 

Unfortunately the images I've been sent are quite small and a few of the markings are out of focus - from reading the very helpful fake Type 95 thread the fonts and font placement of the serials looks about right to me? The tsuka looks to be fairly detailed and not poorly cast as in some reproductions, the fuller looks about the right length on the blade, the wear looks fairly consistent with the age. The things that give me pause are the blades overall very even appearance and the fact that the tsuba looks brass colored - I think it's actually aluminum and the lighting is making it look like brass but I'd have to see it in person to know. 

 

Would anyone care to chime in regarding this swords authenticity? Any replies are welcome! I've tried to do a bit of research on my own but things like serial number ranges and proper arsenal stamps still elude me. 

[Stegel]

Hi Kay,

The sword appears to be genuine, and from the photo's i believe it could be matching numbers.

It was made by Iijima under the Kokura Administration. They were one of the  subcontractors supplying the Tokyo Arsenal.

The handle is Painted Aluminium in this case and it is quite clear in the photo's provided.

 

Overall it appears to be in clean condition, that is not very well worn/abused.

The serial number range is correct for this manufacturer.

These are generally going from $700 to $1200 at auction depending on condition, so this would be at the higher end.

You will find some dealers asking hugely inflated prices, even double the high end i mentioned, but their listings are around for a long time and are very slow sellers.( on occasion, they may be rare and will command higher prices anyway - this particular one if fairly common to find)

Here's a good overview primer for you to read if you haven't got any reference books 

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/ija-type-95-nco-sword-info-228172/ 

 

if you want to know more indepth there's this one:

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/short-development-history-type-95-gunto-676112/

 

Also if you do a search on this site you will find many threads about this particular model.

I hope this helps you some.

Good luck, and if you do get it, please post some better pics here, as there are a lot of people here who love looking at these!

 

 

[robinalexander]

Hi Kay welcome,

 

I'm with Stegel in that it looks authentic and a fine example.  I would be very happy to own it.  These Type 95 were issued to NCO's in the IJA (Non Commissioned Officers in the Imperial Japanese Army) 

 

"the blades overall very even appearance and the fact that the tsuba looks brass colored - I think it's actually aluminum and the lighting is making it look like brass but I'd have to see it in person to know. "

 

Many blades on 95's are very clean either because they have been looked after or they have been cleaned up.  But either way, as they are not 'traditionally made' there is nothing to worry about there...looks good.

 

The tsuba should in fact should be made of brass (not aluminum) and from the pictures it looks fine.

 

Nice to see you did some relevant research before posting here....it's not necessary of course, but it is very refreshing 

 

Rob

 

PS When you get it don't be tempted to pull it apart (remove tsuka etc) as there is nothing to see on the tang/nakago, and there is a possibility it might not go back together as tightly as it is now.  Type 94, 97 & 98 officers swords are a different proposition and they are made to come apart easily.

[Brian]

Great info above, we are lucky to have such helpful members.
I also want to mention how nice it is to see a newcomer doing such a great job of research themself before asking. You really seem dedicated to this, well done Kay.

[Michaelr]

Hello Kay and welcome to the forum. All the information that you received above is great not only for you but for many others including myself. You did the right thing and came to the right place before delving into the mine field of Type 95’s. It appears to be in great condition and matching and a early model. Like expressed above and again by me, I would be proud to be the caretaker of this sword. Please let us know if you decide to purchase this sword. Again Welcome   

   MikeR

[flightlessgreeb]

Thanks so much everyone for your nuanced and detailed replies! Extremely gratifying to find a forum with such quick and easy expertise - definitely better than some of the experiences I've had in the gun world haha - I have made plans to pick this sword up and will definitely be posting additional photos of it once I have it in my possession. Thanks also for the note about leaving the tsuka intact, I've seen a lot of pics with the blade removed but I'd also noted that these machine made mass production ones may not have much useful info under there, good to have it confirmed. 

 

I don't currently have any books on the topic but I have pre-ordered Plimpton's new work from Headstamp Publishing - lets just hope I can keep this hobby to a reasonable limit of one or maybe two items haha

[Kiipu]

38 minutes ago, flightlessgreeb said:

I don't currently have any books on the topic but I have pre-ordered Plimpton's new work from Headstamp Publishing

 

Nice sword and ditto what Stegel and Rob said above.  As you are in the States, start with Dawson's book first.  A beginner only needs 1 or 2 books to get started with military swords, either F&G and/or Dawson's.

Dawson, Jim. Swords of Imperial Japan, 1868–1945. Cyclopedia ed. Newnan, Ga.: Stenger-Scott Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9719127-2-4.

[Bruce Pennington]

And definitely spend some time reading through the fabulous website:

http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

[Kiipu]

I have been having some problems with accessing that site with the link you provided.  After talking to Trystan about it, I found that I needed the www. prefix for reasons unknown.  Maybe @Brian can explain this.  This only started recently and it could be something to do with the Firefox browser or one of the plugins I am using.

http://www.ohmura-study.net/900.html

 

The website that I like the most is actually the one put together by @Rich S.  It is still by far the best English language online resource for the gendaitō era.  Thanks Rich!

www.japaneseswordindex.com

[flightlessgreeb]

As promised! Picked up the sword yesterday, took some pics this afternoon in the setting sun. Some of them didn't come out with great detail - let me know if there are any additional shots I should try to take or retake. It appears to be Kokura Arsenal if I know my Arisaka stamps anyway - not sure about the other markings. At least with rifles I know it's very difficult to nail down a year of manufacture - would anyone care to hazard a guess in this case? 

 

gallery: https://imgur.com/a/zdMwRz2

[Michaelr]

Kay, the pictures look great. Congratulations. I am glad that you, with the excellent advice of the forum members, decided to go through with the purchase. You have a very nice sword there. You made a good choice and have one to be proud of.

  MikeR 

[Bruce Pennington]

Kay,

Stegel described the details above, but didn't specifically point out each stamp.  You have the arrangement depicted a item 3 on this chart from Ohmura's excellent webpage HERE.

 

Iijima contractor - Tokyo 1st Arsenal inspector - Kokura Arsenal