Does anyone know what this is ??

[BRUNROX]

Greetings all, I found these two Swords together , one is a full size Gunto that is signed ( still trying to translate) and the other one had a tag that said "Boy's Sword" ,comes in military mounts, it is about half the weight of the full size Gunto, blade is longer though at 27",and is not sharpened, tang is not signed and only has the number 44. Saya still has some red paint on it. Overall condition is very good. I have read somewhere that High Ranking Officers when departing for war would give their eldest son a Sword to combat the enemy if an invasion ever ocurred. It is for sure not a "Toy", it is very well made

and the fittings and hardware are almost identical to the full size ones, only smaller in scale. I have never seen anything like this and I'm hoping some NMB members can shed some light and share their opinions. Best Regards, Mario P.

[huntershooter]

Pg. 158, plate 13-8; "Swords of Imperial Japan...", Jim Dawson. Most probably a type 98 "light weight shin-gunto, presumably carried in non combat situations as alternative to dress swords".

 

Don't believe it's a "boys sword".

 

Could we see photos of the tang/nakago?

[BRUNROX]

Thanks Todd , guess it's time to buy more books. I'll post more pics tomorrow. Regards, Mario P.

[Stephen]

i think its neat but not to crazy about the ito, not very well done, which brings up flags to me.

[george trotter]

I agree, an interesting sword....IMHO not a boys sword. Without pics of nakago etc it is just a guess, but the slim dimensions of the blade (especially the bo-hi) remind me of some "sabre" type blades I have seen from late Meiji or Taisho or early Showa period. It may have originally been mounted as a kyu-gunto and remounted in Type 34/98 mounts when the change came. But, as you say it has only "44" on the nakago, I suppose it must be an arsenal blade, but still from the sabre-kyugunto period.

Just an opinion,

George.

[Gilles]

Hello,

 

The last book of Jim Dawson shows a sword like the one you have which still belongs to me. It can be found page 160 and 161 plates 13-17 and 13-18. Like other NMB members told you it is a field officer lightweight type. Imperial army high ranking officers usually used this type when the dress code of the army stipulated the wear of the shin-gunto. Usually the blade is machine made. The guard of my exemple have a pierced tsuba and this sword is very well made with all the details of a regular one. It is quite a scarce type not very common to find.

 

Hope it helps.

[BRUNROX]

Greetings! Here are a couple more pics. The blade is machine made, and the Nakago does not say much, just the # 44.

I'm glad to know it's scarce and not too common. Best Regards, Mario P.

[David Flynn]

Nagoya arsenal used a W stamp.