Bruce Pennington

Jean Collin, I have seen this debate in the past, and it revolves around dirks/daggers from another era and/or other countries. The WWII (acually they originated in the 1800s) Navy and rare Army dirks are called "dirks" by the entire militaria collecting world: Omura - Military Swords of Imprerial Japan: Navy Dirks

The emblem indicates a Police Patrolman & Sergeant sword. Like the other guys said, if the blade were a converted waki, you would see a bamboo peg, a mekugi, through the side of the handle, holding the blade in place. The police swords were usually shorter, like this one. It is very uncommon to find a full-length gunto sized police sword, though they can be seen in reference books.

Thanks for the added shots, Tony! @SteveM might correct me, but I believe that is Koriki Kanemasa. I have one other similar rig, with one of his blades in it. Similar enough to think they were both done by the same shop. Here's the other one:

Becca, Sam probably explained this while with you in person, but just in case - The handle (tsuka) and other fittings are that of a Type 98 Army officer. Many older, family blades were fitted out for WWII, both army and navy. The scabbard (saya) would originally have had a leather cover. They often go missing over the decades. You can see examples of the in pristine condition on Ohmura's site: Military Swords of Imperial Japan - Informality Fittings See this page for care and cleaning: NBTHK Sword Care Guide

Thanks David! I see it is just a dark spot, that in the original photo looked like it might be a stamp.

Thanks Tony! Any chance of a link to the rest of the sword?

I record all blades with any stamp. All of them, except the star stamped blades, are showato in my opinion. Are you asking if I record non-stamped showato? If so, no I don't. David, I was asking about the stamp on your blade, please.

Nazar, The two sides seem identical to me. What are you seeing that is "similar" but not identical? Congrats on your Type 95. Glad to see you really appreciate it! I know what you mean.

I have 52 Katsuamasa blades on file with the full range of stamps - Showa, Seki, Na, and Gifu. Can I get a clear shot of the stamp at the top of your mei?

The stamp under the stacked cannon balls is the WA, which Fuller says: "‘Wa’ stamp. Probably indicates manufacture in an occupied area, most likely by a collaborating force. Found on poor quality rolled or hammered blades." Now, that is in context of sword blades, so don't know if that directly translates over to bayonets. @Kiipu might be able to help with all the rest.

Don't know what you've got there, but I don't believe it was made in Japan. Hopefully others with experience with weapons from other countries can comment.

The small stamp on the back edge is the "HO" of the 1st Factory of the Kokura Army Arsenal. It's the first Akinobu blade I have on file with the stamp. Of course there are likely many others as many times, the mune is not shown on auctions and personal posts. The stamp, by itself is not a sure indicator of whether the blade is traditionally made or not, especially when found on the mune. WWII officer swords normally sell in the $900-1,400 USD range if non-traditionally made. Higher if traditional.

Your fittings put this in the Showa era. I can't speak to the making of the blade. If it's acid etched, then it's not likely to have been traditionally made. Maybe one of the guys that collect dirks can comment.

I try. Some listen, others don't.

Ha! I know!!! Total cultural disconnect.

Your right, it's a common fake.

Thanks Joe! That small vertical stroke on the left side thew me off. But I do have 6 of his blades on file, and one of them has that same little stroke on the left. Both have that light blue painted number, different numbers.

This was posted as Kanenao. Is that correct? I don't see a Kanenao or Kinnao or Kinmichi on the RJT list, and don't see the name in Sesko's list either.

Good point on the added numbers of 32s, Conway! That would greatly increase the number of NCO gunto, and we know from photos that many 32s were part of the post-war confiscation. Russ, I also agree that your idea may be true. Another option to consider is the provision, during shortages, for officers to purchase Type 95s. I think it's possible an officer could have bought this and filed off the number. Sam, After reading Nick's post stating that "senior NCOs and Warrant officers" were authorized, it would certainly reduce the number of NCOs that needed swords. I suspect that the reality was a bit different than the regulatory picture. Just from photographs alone, my impression is that more guys were carrying these than just Sergeant Majors and Warrant officers. But your numbers certainly brings that reality back closer to Nick's observation than my idea that all NCOs carried them. Thanks for bringing this up!

The owner posted more photos, turns out to be a waki in civilian mounts.

It is quite interesting, Sam. Still trying to wrap my head around it in light of Fuller's numbers. He stated that according to American records 661,621 swords were collected at the end of the war. (372,609 were kept and distributed; 289,012 were destroyed) That number included all the private swords confiscated, too. It would not account for all the swords lost to the Russians, and lost on the battlefield. His estimate for total swords made during the war is 2 million. I don't know the officer/NCO ratio, but it's likely that there were 2 to 3 times more NCO's than officer in the Japanese military. Just using the 661,000 number, and let's presume confiscated swords were 100,000, then of the 500,000 military, you would expect 2/3 to be NCO swords = 330,000 NCO swords. Now, Fuller pointed out that many officers owned more than 1 sword, so that could account for the larger number of officer swords. But even if flipped, 300,000 officer; 200,000 NCO, that would require that 100% of all manufactured NCO blades were accounted for at the post-war count, which seems very unlikely. I don't see anything wrong with your math. But it just seems to me, in light of Fuller's numbers, that there should be more. Open to hearing other ideas!!!

You guys must frequent a different circle of sword sellers than I do. I just watched this one go for $1,900 And this one runs in August 22nd, and is already up to $1,100

Ohmura's site is the Premium spot for that: Military Swords of Imperial Japan I also own an RJT gendaito in the steel saya. These tend to be a darker, mid-level brown as opposed to the lighter tan. A 1945 Kunitoshi I did a survey of RS fittings, and of the 75 with RJT star blades, there were 15 in the mid-brown metal saya. The rest were custom.

Interestingly, I only have two other blades by him, with Showa stamp, and he used different dating 'language' on each one! Standard Imperial

The Rinji seishiki (Type 3, etc) is the only model that has a clear distinction in blades between the standard, light tan saya vs the custom saya with double release buttons. You almost always find a gendaito in the custom Rinji fittings.