Bruce Pennington

Phil, Your gunto is the Contingency model, formulated from the Type 98 officer gunto. Originated in 1938, but didn't hit the streets until 1940. Often called the "late war" because they most commonly have '44 blades in them for some reason. You can read more about them here: http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/deflating-another-myth-type-3-army-officera-s-sword-expanded-version-584796/ The stamp, like Grey indicated means the blade was not made "in the traditional way", which could mean any of 8 different ways. The smith making it might very well have been skilled, but due to the demand of needing hundreds of thousands of swords for the war, most were made, even by skilled smiths, in non-traditional, ways that expidited mass production. Many skilled smiths would still produce a traditional blade now and then.

Sometimes you will see a single charactor, a "bonji" - BONJI (SANSCRIT) Some blades with have a single kanji, written in sanscrit, that have meaning or significance in Buddhist beliefs. They were likely added at the request of the customer, either during manufacture, or some sometime after. These are “normally” found on the blade, but can be found on the nakago.

Chris, Company grade (Lts & Capts) - Brown/Blue Field grade (Majs & Cols) - Brown/Red General grade - Brown/Red/Gold

Got another one on a Mantetsu. Fittings numbered "62" and the habaki had the "/I II" which would translate to 6 2.

It’s got marks but I cannot tell if they are stamps or not I’m fairly certain mine does.

It’s here David: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/30572-general-sword-tassel/?fromsearch=1

Dave,It needs to fit on the front of the tsuba for a Rinji (Type 3) tsuka.

Took me 2 years to get all the parts I needed to retrofit my dad's Mantetsu. Looks like I could have done it in 2 minutes with him!!!

Both good examples, Neil. My records have the Kanehisa as Ozawa Kanehisa. Is that the mei on that one?

Just bought one, and will post it in the For Sale forum. Got it from our famous Showa22 on fleabay, but the blade is legit. MOST of the parts are clearly original with matching assembly number 62. 2 of the smaller seppa might be added later. It's a pretty thing, and blade is a beauty. I believe, and have asked Showa22 for any clarification that he's aware of, the tsuka was rewrapped. The same' is very weathered and yellowed yet the ito is so new looking it doesn't appear to have ever been held in-hand - no sweat or dirt or wear. In a similar way, the saya has an odd blotchy, yet smooth, poor quality look, yet the metal fittings (except for the ashi) are near mint. It's a good looking piece, all legit WWII fittings, but the saya paint and weather ito makes me think this was in badly damaged fittings, and has been returned to it's glory by someone who cares about gunto/Mantetsu after the war. Spring 1943, Nanman stamped, WE 299 Of course, I could be wrong and it's all original.

This thought had occured to me as well. And I find it more likely than a G.I. grab or even a dealer swap around. Steve, I wish I could remember where I read the story, but it was someone's story of being in battle, grabbing a bare blade from a dead soldier (why he wouldn't have grabbed the saya too, I don't understand), and later before going home, finding a scabbard to stick his bare blade in. So I know it happened. But it seems so unlikely in these cases we're posting due to the closeness of the numbers. With serial numbers ranging from 1 to 200,000+ of the metal handled versions, it would be more likely for the GI to grab a 153XXX saya for his 56XXX blade, just due to randomness. When I mentioned factory/arsenal, I really meant as a replacement for a damaged saya, but after thinking about that, Ha, it's even more unlikely than the G.I. grab. So, to me, Rob's idea seems quite possible as a large unit in the field sustains causalties, battle damaged gear, etc, it would be possible that a buddy's saya, who died, is used to replace a guy's damaged one. It just seems too unlikely that a dealer could get his hands on enough 95s at one time to swap saya around on gunto with serial numbers that close. Now a collector like Shamsy or Stegel with 50 on-hand ... Ok, sure, it could happen!

Dang, typo, sorry - NO 273. A mind is a terrible thing to waste ..... sheesh.

Another: Blade - 145552; saya - 145680 (up for action at fleabay) 128 numbers apart - had to be done at the factory/arsenal.

Wow Sam, thanks for the update, I had it completely wrong on that katakana! It's "RO 273". It's not significant that the fitting numbers are different than the blade number. The korshirae companies used their own numbering system when outfitting a blade.

Bruno, By the sounds of it, you are the local expert on this! All I've read on it is from Ohmura's website. It seems a study of the hamon on anti-rust blades would need to be done with blades in hand. Off the cuff, I would guess the metalurgical patterns that happen in quenching might result in different appearances in those blades. If you could find some guys that currently forge with stainless steel, like in knife making, they might have some insight. Otherwise, it would be good to start collecting, here, images of stainless blades and their hamon, for comparison and study. But in the 6 years I have been doing this, Tenshozan blades are rare. We see lots of Toyokawa stamped blades, but very few Tenshozan ones. Guys - bring us your Tenshozan blades! And you stainless steel guys - any insight on the hamon characteristics that would help us determine if Tenshozan blades are oil or water quenched?

Thanks Trystan. I'm working with Dave as we speak. Good info to have in my contacts though!

Definitely some interesting topics! One from a slave of the Samurai? Can't say I've heard that discussed before.

This is precisely why I've started saving/re-posting pictures when guys only post a link to a set of pictures. Interesting ito, Neil. Seems to be laquered canvas?

So now we know JP is the regimental expert here!!! Ha! After reading Dawson's opinion of how these were carried, but then re-looking at the condition of this banner....I wonder. The banner's condition doesn't look like something that was kept in a barracks and hauled out for parades. Kind of looks like damage of some sort, not ususally found on the parade field.

Congrats Dan, nice catch! Do I see stamps on that steel fuchi? If so can you give us a closeup?

Come one Hamish! You know I can go at least 30-40 secs! Ha! First, let me say I don't study these much. What I see in Dawson, agree on the police tassel. Yet, the gunto is more likely a Company grade Army because of the 10-petal blossom and the blossom arrangement on the handguard. It's also likely a Type 8 because of the double belt hangers. The early 19s had 2, but they went to 1 ashi pretty quick in 19 production (according to Dawson). So, yes, there is a chance it's an early 19, but odds are in favor of it being an 8. Dawson says he's only seen 5 of these. I roughly recall seeing 2 or three in my 6 years on this forum. So, yep, pretty rare! Dawson says he knows of no evidence they were used in combat. He opines that they were used for parades and political marches. If you don't get anyone knowledgable about the banner, there are lots of guys on Warrelics and Wehrmacht-Awards that are really into that stuff and could tell you about it, I'm sure. Warrelics: http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/Japanese-militaria/ Wehrmacht-Awards: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59

Nice Sam! Can you do me a big favor and post a pic to the serial number without the habaki? The kanji, as view could be either a "Ra" or "U", and it's blocking the top of the kanji. Thanks dude! The etched kanji on the tsuba simply match the painted assembly numbers on the nakago "2 8 7"

Thanks Grew, I'll email him now!

Thanks Doug, just got a response back from Dan that it's already gone. I thought of going to fleabay, usually there are tsuka for sale. I was going to write to the seller to see if they had the bolt/nut combo still around, but there's not tsuka for sale right now.

Page 182, Dawson - Kaoru Airborne Unit, Nov 26,'44; raid on Burauen North and South Airfields on Leyte