New custodian of family heirlooms

[Christina M]

Here is another sword in the collection.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Christina, this a WWII Type 98 officers sword. It is signed "Mantetsu Kitae Tsukuru Kore" and made in the mid 1940's. You can read more about them here: https://www.japaneseswordindex.com/koa.htm

 

 

[xiayang]

John already gave you very useful information.  For completeness, let me add:

• The date reads 昭和甲申春 = spring of Shōwa, year of the wood monkey (1944 CE).
• It bears a "Ren" (連) stamp, indicating that it was made in the Mantetsu workshop in Dalian (大連), China (which back then was part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo).

[Bruce Pennington]

Nice Mantetsu @Christina M!  I got mine when my dad passed away.  They are my favorite of the WWII swords.  A few of us put together an article on them.  You can read a copy of it here:

 

[Christina M]

Thanks, that was a great read. Much appreciated.