Japanese Sword

This was given to me by an elderly neighbor following the death of her husband. It actually belonged to his brother (who preceded him in death). His brother served in the Pacific during WW2 and brought it home with him.

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Unfortunately, I don't know anything about this other than it's Japanese. Any info you can provide would be appreciated. Such as --- What is the proper name for this style sword? Who would have carried it? Is the number on the blade a serial #?
Anything you can think of would be appreciated.

Shin-Gunto (think I spelled it right). NCO sword. Probably some arsenal markings (look close).
Very nice item though not as valuable as the Gunto hand made officers swords.

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Originally Posted by HOOKED ON HISTORY

Shin-Gunto (think I spelled it right). NCO sword. Probably some arsenal markings (look close).
Very nice item though not as valuable as the Gunto hand made officers swords.

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Thank You for the info. Based on what I was able to look up quickly, it appears this is a Type 95 Shin Gunto -- made for NCO's and had a serial # stamped into the blade with Arabic numbers. Sounds like what I've got, but I'll dig deeper.

I only have one but like them because 1. as far as I know they are no forgeries unlike the Gunto 2. They are far less expensive.

The scabbard should have a matching serial number. There are many Chinese made fake NCO swords on the market.

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Originally Posted by John Wyatt

There are many Chinese made fake NCO swords on the market.

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I got one for my son some years back because he loves that sort of thing. The story I got was they were assembled from parts on hand by the Chinese and sold overseas...so I took one. It was not too bad and the price was good.

I inherited my Grandfathers NCO sword very similiar to yours. He was a rifleman in the 2nd Marine Div. He took the sword, VZ24 chines contract 8mm Mauser, Binoculars, and philipino pesos off the NCO on Saipan. He assumed the NCO fought in mainland China where he picked the VZ 24 up and continued to use it for some reason. This sword had decorative tassels on it at one time. They had since rotted and fallen off.

Is it for sale?

You can do the following,
Remove the sword from the scabbard carefully remove the peg in the handle knocking out left - Rt one end should be bigger as its a tapered peg (On my Shin-Gunto 98)' hold the sword vertical wrap a rag around the blade near the Tsuba top side so you dont cut your hand, then with the bottom of the handle a few inches from the ground or table strike the handle obliquely and downward with bottom of your open hand like a Karate chop (Please don't use a mallet) to remove it from the sword take note how the seppa and Tsuba are stacked together.
You can then see if there are any characters on the Nakago (Tang) assemble in the reverse order and point down tapping the handle on by hand and re-pegging the same way it does not require gorilla tactics they usually come apart easily always wipe them over to remove any oils & moisture from your hands on the metal surfaces.
I use a thin coat of balistol on my blade.

Pics of my Shin-Gunto 98 & Nakago (Sorry NFS)

Mine has been deciphered for place of manufacture and who made the sword.
高山鍛錬所於氏房之作
Takayama Tanren-jo [ni] Oite Ujifusa kore [wo] saku
This was forged by Ujifusa at the Takayama Forge

He is listed as "Chu-Saku" (mid-level) here and his real name was
篠田 氏房
Shinoda Ujifusa

The site states gives him a "3" notation (Superior):
"...In additon, winners of the 6th Shinsaku Nihonto Denrankai (新作日本刀展覽會, 1941) were reported at Nihon Kendo Oyobi Token (日本劍道及刀劍) by Hagio Takahashi. From Special Honor Seats to the 5th seat (S: 特別名譽席(鍛刀總匠), 1: 國工, 2: 準國工, 3:優秀, 4:佳作, 5: 新進)..."

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Originally Posted by bangbangsan

Is it for sale?

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That should have been a PM to the owner...I should think...

I have one very similar to the OP's...I inherited it from my father-in-law...it was his bring back from the Pacific Theater.

Here is a site that I found very useful...
JAPANESE MILITARY SWORDS - I

scroll @ 1/2 way down.....

Hope it helps.
Mike

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Originally Posted by 82Trooper

I have one very similar to the OP's...I inherited it from my father-in-law...it was his bring back from the Pacific Theater.

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Did you show us that one? Very few actual vet bringback seem to surface now. That is, ones with provenance.

I forgot to add your going to have to push in the catch with the top hand otherwise it will just catch as expected on the Tsuba, also looks like you do not have a peg but a bolt in your handle the peg can be fashioned out of a light coloured wood with a gentle taper so it fills and fits flush both sides of the hole in the handle.

Trial & error will get you there with moderate pressure to push it in.

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

also looks like you do not have a peg but a bolt in your handle the peg can be fashioned

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I believe the bolt is correct for the metal handle versions...

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

You can do the following,
Remove the sword from the scabbard carefully remove the peg in the handle knocking out left - Rt one end should be bigger as its a tapered peg (On my Shin-Gunto 98)' hold the sword vertical wrap a rag around the blade near the Tsuba top side so you dont cut your hand, then with the bottom of the handle a few inches from the ground or table strike the handle obliquely and downward with bottom of your open hand like a Karate chop (Please don't use a mallet) to remove it from the sword take note how the seppa and Tsuba are stacked together.
You can then see if there are any characters on the Nakago (Tang) assemble in the reverse order and point down tapping the handle on by hand and re-pegging the same way it does not require gorilla tactics they usually come apart easily always wipe them over to remove any oils & moisture from your hands on the metal surfaces.
I use a thin coat of balistol on my blade.

Pics of my Shin-Gunto 98 & Nakago (Sorry NFS)

Mine has been deciphered for place of manufacture and who made the sword.
高山鍛錬所於氏房之作
Takayama Tanren-jo [ni] Oite Ujifusa kore [wo] saku
This was forged by Ujifusa at the Takayama Forge

He is listed as "Chu-Saku" (mid-level) here and his real name was
篠田 氏房
Shinoda Ujifusa

The site states gives him a "3" notation (Superior):
"...In additon, winners of the 6th Shinsaku Nihonto Denrankai (新作日本刀展覽會, 1941) were reported at Nihon Kendo Oyobi Token (日本劍道及刀劍) by Hagio Takahashi. From Special Honor Seats to the 5th seat (S: 特別名譽席(鍛刀總匠), 1: 國工, 2: 準國工, 3:優秀, 4:佳作, 5: 新進)..."

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Thanks for the info. I plan on doing that, but it will have to wait until I'm finished with my current project - 92 Krag.

As requested (thanks for that!)...here are some pix of my father-in-law's NCO sword (Shin-gunto)..machine made blade, and painted aluminum handle to imitate the silk wrapped vintage originals. According to references, it was made between 1937 and 1944. Either at Kokura or Torrimatsu arsenal._

Someday I am going to stumble across a proper sarute (the loop that mounts in the hole at the end of the grip) and make it complete. (believe it or not, my wife and her brother used to play Jedi's with it....so goes family lore! )

A little worse for wear, and the condition is not that great....but the value to us is the provenance....that he brought it home with him.
Mike

Well used example. I had a Navy Katana for a while, black lacquered scabbard and cloth wrapped handle. Had no Sarute either. Long time ago...traded an AR 180, Costa Mesa version for it. I picked up one of these that came from China a few years back and had been assembled from parts as I understood. It looked good and was priced right so I grabbed it as a collection started for him...

Thanks for re-energizing me....I got motivated and ordered an original "correct" sarute for my sword. Something I have been talking about for several years.
These guys have a great website and offer parts as well as service.

https://www.japanese-swords.com/index.htm

(I have no affiliation, other than as a new customer, but could be helpful to someone else in a situation like I was).

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Originally Posted by 82Trooper

I got motivated and ordered an original "correct" sarute for my sword.

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I was younger then...used a piece of parachute cord for effect... Looked odd though.