Bruce Pennington

Agreed. Chinese made. This particular maker seems to always put serial numbers on the habaki (brass collar), which like John said is just one of the several things they get wrong about Japanese swords. Now, if they are just making a sword for China, the fine. But this maker often houses the blades in imitation WWII Japanese fittings. Yours is civilian fittings, so you could feel Ok keeping as such.

Yes, interesting! And I agree - shark. Seems more common in kaigunto than ray.

*Note to self - don't automatically assume poorly aligned diamonds in ito means poor post-war re-wrap* Good eye, John.

That's an interesting idea! Do we have something from them that ties the mark to their club? good question.

Hi Yonie! John's video should help you get the handle (tsuka) off. If you've removed the mekugi (bamboo peg) already and it's still stuck, you can get a rubber mallet or a block of wood and tap on the handguard (tsuba). They can get stuck from rust and debris. You won't harm anything by this. Be sure to tightly wrap the blade with tough cloth for gripping! General info: WWII Japanese officer sword (Type 98) with Company grade tassel (Lieutenants and Captains). You are asking for value and the market price can vary greatly depending upon what we see on the tang (nakago). A standard gunto runs around $900 - $1,400, but yours is missing the scabbard (saya) so look at the low end of the range. If the blade is something old, and/or signed by a popular smith, the value will double and even go higher, depending.

Hi Ed, At first glance, I thought the fabric tassel was all brown, but looking closer, I believe it is a very faded company grade tassel. The blues and reds of officer tassels can almost disappear when exposed to the elements for years. Man, that leather one is something I've never seen!

Good idea idea bringing over to NMB for the other fellow, Jeff. NMB has a ton of guys that know these swords, compared to just one or two over at W-A. Someone will help.

Interesting to see the stem and leaf pattern on the backstrap is noticeably different. Also, the part that sticks out (no idea of the name of the part) is quit larger and longer than the other.

Nice custom fittings either way.

These come up in discussion, now and then, so thought I'd post a photo for reference. Civil sword, with hole drilled through the tsuka top for a sarute. Found on this ebay sale.

I'm away from my books, but can say that in the beginning stages of Westernization, Japan imported blades from Germany. So, that puts your sword very early, like 1890s or 1900ish. Dawson says in his book (which I don't have right now).

Like Conway said, the cherry blossom on the sides of the handle are barrel screws and can be unscrewed and removed allowing you to slide the handle off the tang. Curious to see what we're seeing.

Benton, Please do us a favor and post close-ups of the inspector stamps on the handle and serial numbers on the blade and scabbard throat. Darker backgrounds make the sword easier to see.

Dave, If your question about value means "Is this sword worth anything?", then yes. While we wait for the experts on older blades, I can say that the fittings are WWII Japanese officer Type 98 fittings. Those alone can sell for hundreds of dollars. Complete swords, like yours can range from $900 to $1,400. If the blade is determined to be something worth restoring, the price doubles and can go higher, depending upon various aspects. Most collectors feel that all swords are worth preserving unless damaged terribly. WWII collectors even hold the damaged ones with respect as they represent the lives of those who served their country. Here is a page about care and cleaning: Japanese Sword Care

While we wait for your answer, I must amend my arising doubts about the Showa stamp from the post above. Ohmura's website quotes a 1940 Japanese magazine article which clearly specifies it was the Showa stamp being used by the Seki City Manufacturers Association. One can only speculate why the polisher, in the discussion above, thought that the army had placed the stamp on blades, but I suspect he saw blades at an arsenal where he worked with the stamp and assumed the army inspectors had done the stamping. Honestly, we don't know how or when the Association did the stamping. It is possible they had reps at the arsenals inspecting blades that came in. Who knows? But both Ohmura and the Seki City website say the Association was inspecting blades and the magazine article said it was the Showa stamp being used. Back to awaiting your source about Toyokawa. Are you able to cite Wikipedia? Toyokawa Naval Arsenal - Wikipedia They state: "The land was acquired in the towns of Toyokawa and Uchikubo and village of Yawata in eastern Aichi Prefecture by July 1938, and construction began on October 1, 1938. The formal opening ceremony for the new facility was held on December 15, 1939. The new plant initially covered 200 hectares, and had 1500 employees. "

Luke, Don't have anything you can reference, sorry, but all the threads and videos I've seen about how to build a tsuka, show two wooden halves with a rectangular groove that gets filled with same' (rayskin). Then the tsuka gets wrapped with ito. I've never seen anything that shows a layer of fabric under the rayskin. Your dirk has something. So, we know it happened. I personally feel that the maker had wooden halves that, together, didin't fit the pre-fabbed kabutogane and placed the fabric to 'fatten up' the shape to fit. Just my 2 cents.

Conway, you never cease to amaze me! Good call. It's a Masanori, thought for a second it was Mitsunobu. Never mind. But great ID work on the saka. Ed, thanks for the mune number! The chevorns seem to be polisher marks, but I've never seen any like that for sure.

Thanks Marcin. I only had 3 other Teruhide on file, and none of them showed the mune, so I don't know if they were numbered. I have 13 Mitsunobu - 6 with mune numbers, 7 with star stamp. None of them are Showa or large Seki stamped. Interesting that the "751" of this Teruhide fall into the line-up of the Mitsunobu numbers of "707" and "776" on file. Japaneseswordindex cites the theory that his Teruhide mei represented traditionally made while Mitsunobo is found on non-traditional. It would take a thorough examination to try to pin that down. I doubt my file photos would suffice.

Ed, Is this yours? I have several Masakuni blades on file that are star stamped. Could we get a clear, brighter shot of the top of the nakago? Also, there could be stamped numbers on the nakago mune.

Another kaigunto with it's own take on how to fit around 2 haikan. Posted by @Matsunoki HERE.

John, is the kissaki half imbeded in the carpet, or is that a naganita-style kissaki?

John, After re-reading Nick's document, he mentions that after 2 years, problems with the 25 were identified and fixes proposed, but he says that he didn't know if any of them were actually applied. I have not looked at the 25s enough to say for sure, but I think the first one was never made, right? "Improvement request 1 A button to free the sword from the scabbard was located on the backstrap of the grip, but this position being exposed to falling rain, let the rain seep into the grip from around the button, which further led to the scabbard filling with water and causing the blade to rust. In addition, the spring effect of the Chuso lock got weaker and soon would not suffice to hold the blade in the scabbard. So the idea was to eliminate water entry by discontinuing the unlock button and instead adopt leafsprings attached to the mouth piece of the scabbard, like the construction applied to bayonet scabbards, which hold the blade and prevent slipping out of the scabbard."

Jeff, You have a Type 98 officer sword. You can read up on them here: Commissioned Officer Sword - 1938; Ohmura Care and cleaning tips: Japanese Sword Care - Japaneseswordindex.com