tbonesullivan Posted January 27, 2021 Report Posted January 27, 2021 Well, this is definitely a weird one. At first I thought it was some type of WWI/WWII era Chinese Jian, and it's dated on the blade. However, after looking through Chinese era dates fruitlessly, I though the era date looked familiar. Well, it should, as this sword, real or not, has a Meiji Date on it. It's dated right to left, but it definitely reads 明 治 十 九 年 or Meiji 19 = 1886. This would be well after the Satsuma rebellion and into the "modernization" of Japan. Has anyone seen one of these before? The blade is flat on one side, and fullered on the other, and honestly looks like a Western style artillery short sword. Google is failing me. Was Japan making export swords at the time? It definitely is well made, but also definitely machine made. Quote
Kiipu Posted January 27, 2021 Report Posted January 27, 2021 One of the three Meiji-era Japanese Army short swords and it can be found in Dawson's book. This version is just dated and has no crossguard serial number. 1 Quote
tbonesullivan Posted January 27, 2021 Author Report Posted January 27, 2021 AHH... Man my google skills have gotten weak. Now I'm finding things. Quote
Kiipu Posted January 27, 2021 Report Posted January 27, 2021 The translation of the blade markings are below. 東京砲兵工廠 = Tōkyō Artillery Arsenal. 明治十九年製 = Made in 1886. 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted January 28, 2021 Report Posted January 28, 2021 Nice to see a real one, not just in a book! How does it feel? Is it heavy? How long is it? Quote
Dave R Posted January 28, 2021 Report Posted January 28, 2021 Flat one side and fullered on the other is a very Austrian trait, looks like the Meiji military took ideas from more than the French and the Prussians. 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted January 28, 2021 Report Posted January 28, 2021 20 hours ago, Kiipu said: three Meiji-era Japanese Army short swords Good discussion of them on this thread:https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/f216/year-25-model-cavalry-gunto-781783-post2132449/#post2132449 Quote
lonely panet Posted January 28, 2021 Report Posted January 28, 2021 19 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said: Nice to see a real one, not just in a book! How does it feel? Is it heavy? How long is it? there out there, normally over priced on fleabay Quote
tbonesullivan Posted January 29, 2021 Author Report Posted January 29, 2021 On 1/27/2021 at 8:14 PM, Bruce Pennington said: Nice to see a real one, not just in a book! How does it feel? Is it heavy? How long is it? It weighs 1.65lbs according to my scale, and it's 26 inches long with a 21 1/4 inch blade. Nice substantial feel, but not as heavy as say a U.S. Civil War Artillery short sword. Those are pretty beastly. On 1/28/2021 at 8:20 AM, Dave R said: Flat one side and fullered on the other is a very Austrian trait, looks like the Meiji military took ideas from more than the French and the Prussians. I've also seen that with some Swiss and Italian bayonets for the Vetterli rifles. I've always wondered how well it worked out over all in terms of durability. I've seen various "bolo" machetes used by the U.S. that also have the blades ground from only one side. Quote
Dave R Posted January 30, 2021 Report Posted January 30, 2021 14 hours ago, tbonesullivan said: I've also seen that with some Swiss and Italian bayonets for the Vetterli rifles. I've always wondered how well it worked out over all in terms of durability. I've seen various "bolo" machetes used by the U.S. that also have the blades ground from only one side. The Austrian army seemed to be happy with it, using the profile on swords as well as bayonets and faschine messer. Ease of production may well have been a factor. I had a rather beat up Austrian sabre with that blade section years ago and I thought it prone to vibrate a lot. I wish I still had it...... Quote
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