Stegel

No need to be eating hats Thomas, as NOBODY said it was fake! There is a big difference between 'Genuine' parts in this case, and '100% Original' in the sword as a whole. I'll eat my hat if you can show me where it was claimed to be a fake... :lol: The pictures from Stu, were simply showing the correct tsuka/tsuba combinations for a 100% ORIGINAL Type 95 NCO sword. I hope you can nut it out from there. Ernst

I think it would be more appropriate, for the benefit of Toryu, to say that the sword consists of Genuine parts.(that is... not reproductions). However, it is not 100 % Original NCO in its current form. From the pics i cannot see any scabbard at all, but the correct type required,has been mentioned before. The tsuka is incorrect type for this sword, it is not type 95 NCO issue, so obviously has been added to the other parts. The blade, tsuba, fuchi (with locking spring broken off), and habiki may have been a set once upon a time. As mentioned by Stu, the stampings and numbers are correct and in correct orientation, suggesting again that they may have been the original pairing from factory. In my opinion, the number range puts it in the early 'mid' war range and it is possible that the tsuba is also part of the original factory set as the plain black steel one came into use (by this Manufacturer) in the 100,000 range. Regards Ernst BTW- just saw this on ebay, very similar.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWII-WW2-JAPANE ... 5899125d96

Yes you're right about 'late war'....... very late..... like in the last few yrs! I agree with the others, what you have is at worst a 'slapped together' NCO using original parts except for possibly a stripped naval (Kai Gunto Tsuka) instead of the correct metal one. A patient search on ebay will find you one of those.... then at least you will have a Post war assembled Type 95 NCO gunto. You should also be able to find a metal scabbard from the Kokura Arsenal which may not be matching numbers, but at least will be the correct type. Everything being so 'clean' isn't very desirable with militaria collectors, however you should be able to off load it on ebay to someone. Good Luck Cheers Ernst added- The fuchi and markings are fine, appear to be highly polished but original with the Arsenal inspection stamp matching the one on the blade after the numbers. ( they are visible in the photos you posted.... just ZOOM in!) The tsuka appears to be naval, you should be able to determine with an 'in hand' inspection if it is Army white and painted black...

If it helps, i believe some parade sabres and dress swords were made of Aluminium, you can find them in the reference books such as Dawsons or Fullers. Recently the type 95 NCO prototype posting showed and Aluminium blade. Cheers Ernst

Officer tassels were: ARMY-Shin Gunto Company grade tassel's were blue/brown with matching straps, up to rank of captain i believe. Field grade tassels were red/brown with matching straps for colonels and majors. General grade tassel was gold or yellow with the red/brown straps also having 3 gold threads interwoven in a zigzag pattern. Late war army tassels had no rank distinction, all were a medium brown with matching straps. NAVY- Kai Gunto Naval tassels were all dark 'chocolate' brown, again no distinction of ranks. Non Commissioned Officers NCO were: Brown leather barrel knot with leather straps using a buckle retention system for the brass tsuba 'early' type 95 copper & aluminium handled swords. The 'late' type 95 with iron tsuba used the same leather barrel knot but without the buckle set up, the tassel being attached to the steel sarute at the end of the handle instead of the tsuba. you can get this info from a good reference, like the Fuller and Gregory one, or also Jim Dawsons book, which has color photos. I hope this helps you. Ernst

Hi Chris, My hat off to you! We've not agreed in the past, but that was the most informative and educational thread i have yet seen on this site! Well done. My picks were 5, 9, and 10.... 4 looked odd but i didn't go for it. I did get confused reading the answers as the number and x.jpgs numbers got mixed at the end. Thoroughly enjoyed going through the exercise and agree with others that more of these would benefit all members, especially the newbies. Thanks and, Cheers Ernst

Hi All. Roy, if its not to much bother, would you be able to post some pics of the green tassel??? I would love to see it up close! Cheers Ernst

Seems to me this went under the radar.... nice piece in my opinion.... nice price as well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Samura ... 1e70b1cc28 What thoughts are there on this as i am intigued that a piece of this apparent quality sliped by unnoticed by any one. I think some one got a bargain, any opinions?? Ernst BTW if i had the funds available, i think i would have purchased it. Would i have done badly??

Any chance it is Gimei? To me the mei appears to be newer than the actual cutting test inscription? Would the peening effect have been the removal of a mei and then this one added? I heard that Seven body cutting tests are most unusual and probably overstated, in that they are almost impossible. What is the actual cut being performed? hips? chest? etc? (as i don't have a reference for it) Also the blade in the emuseum, does not have as prominent masame as this one.... Forgive my ingnorance, but i'm new to this stuff and very interested. Ernst

I think it is fantastic, truly a beautiful blade. Thanks Jean. Ernst

Just noticed this on ebay.... you might be interested. http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Japanese-W ... 3a7794e651 Ernst

Hi LarryB, Your NCO Sword is genuine form the pictures you have uploaded, most of the info you got from Ohmura's site would be plenty to give you an idea of what you have. It is a shame that the scabbard throat and liner are missing, if you can't locate them at your friends house it will be a shame as it lowers the value of the sword if you were going to sell it. If you crawl the web you may be able to find the missing parts, but the numbers on the throat will not match, this will get a better price but still not the same as a complete matching set. there were some 6000 odd made and this model is fairly desirable by militaria collectors. Sorry i can't point you to any dealers in your area. Could you post a pic of the scabbard tip....just for my own interest. Her is a recent posting on this board, you can see some others of this same type, it may interest you viewtopic.php?f=50&t=13229&start=15 hope this helps BTW your description is accurate, you are also missing the wire loop (sarute) that goes on the end of the handle for the leather tassel to go through. Ernst

Are you able to post a better picture, perhaps a close up, it would help heaps. Is there anything on the other side? Ernst

Keep pluggin Brian, God loves a tryer! You may need to get your wallet out again, here's another one on ebay by the same smith i think, it's very similar to yours but with wooden scabbard. http://www.ebay.com/itm/WW2-SHINGUNTO-K ... 4168299bbc Ernst

Brian, You can find it here: http://www.thelanesarmoury.co.uk/shop.php a few pages in, set the search to Japanese sword first. Ernst

The way i see it, Japan is a part of Asia, so they would have contact/influence from others around them, hence tigers, lions, elephants etc. I don't think the elephant mounts are made for tourists, they aren't exactly my cup to tea but i don't think they are crap, just an interesting fashion trend (which may have had religious influences). I'm no expert on Koshirae, but hey thats my 2 cents worth! Now i found this for your viewing pleasure! Yes it is for sale :D Ernst P.S No its not mine

Hi, I had a look at their web pages, and i could download all the individual images, now it is a matter of putting them back together like a jigsaw puzzle. There are programs around that will let you do that. There are 6 levels of zoom, each level has it's own grid pattern of joined images. i hope this helps Ernst

You have a sharp eye Shigezo S. 加州住繁蔵, i also have one with a similar switch of stampings, i have attached a picture for you to see. It's the centre one of the three, the image name indicates the matching serial numbers respectively. Brian, this is for the militaria collectors amongst us, if you feel it is inapproriate, please remove. Ernst

Hi Bill, It's very clean, is this how you found it? Cheers Ernst PM sent

This one was on ebay just recently, it failed to meet reserve at US$510 I have one like this but with green wrapping instead of red. Ernst

Thanks for that, Depending on the condition, it may have been a very good buy at that price. Strangely enough in these economic times, militaria items are holding their value,and in some case creeping up. Ernst

It appears to be the characters which are within the 'Kami' (God) stamp, however, there is no cherry blossom leaf outline. You can find this stamp in 'Military Swords of Japan 1868-1945' by Fuller & Gregory pg82 (number xiii). It is apparently very rare and only been found on a Shin Gunto Tsuba previously. Ernst

Check in Jim Dawsons 'Swords of Imperial Japan 1868-1945' Cyclopedia Edition. Try Chapter 16 Late War Army Swords for NCO's. You'll find it is the very last Variant of NCO sword listed. How much was the asking price? Ernst

Hi, Definitive proof would leave this thread redundant, so.... speculate and theorise we must with what ever information we can gather! I tend to think that the Navy tassels remained the same, that is not change from dark brown to tan, however, having said that, it makes sense that in the last years of war, manufacturing would be streamlined and even tassels 'standardised' so new issues and replacements may have become the 'tan' variant. This would be in line with the type 3 Koshirae introduction? This would make both shades legitimate for Navy swords. The sellers of tassels (ebay included) don't discriminate, to them if its brown only, then its Navy. They may not know any better and generalise as we all have in the past, making it a 'lucky' mistake? I have seen type 3 sword with blue/brn and red/brn tassels, also type 98's with tan brown, are they after war chops and changes from the returned service men (prefering different colurs and changing them) or from the various dealers handling them since? perhaps i'm wrong, but i think this would be the case. I don't agree with you George, i believe a sniper would be able to (in the majority of cases) distinguish and differentiate colours of tassels. I am however happy to agree to disagree with you on this one! :D I was looking at ohmura's web page and noticed another variant of tassel. This would be another 'early' colour code for Civil Authorities perhaps? Here's the link : http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_050.htm I wonder what the asking price on this one would be?? Cheers Ernst

Very nice indeed! Thanks for that, any chance of seeing the whole blade and perhaps the nakago/mei? Ernst