Giyugun sword

[samusamu]

hello 

this interesting sword found in musi river. south sumatra

the sword have initial name R UU

meybe R is from RADEN (prince) 

name of original owner

 

if the Java have PETA

in sumatra have Giyugun

 

 can help translate the Mei or information really appreciate

 

thank you

 

[Rawa]

It dsnt feel like Japanese made sword. Throw it back to the river 

[ROKUJURO]

Marsel,

the first photo is upside-down.

The shape looks Japanese but there is too much corrosion to say more. But please do not "clean" or grind it, leave this to an expert!

[robinalexander]

[Brian]

I'm betting this is Sumatra made during the occupation.

[Bugyotsuji]

The lettering or characters look to have been incised upside-down.

[Bruce Pennington]

15 hours ago, samusamu said:

if the Java have PETA

in sumatra have Giyugun

Marcel,

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention!  I got a big education today from this.  We have been aware for some time, now, that swords were made "in the islands" for collaboration forces, and the Java sword making operation was fairly well known.  Sumaran Sword - Java. But I had no real idea of the operations in Sumatra.  I found this in-depth article written on the creation of the Giyugun.  Here is a quote about the 2 forces:

 

"After successfully occupying various regions, the next strategy carried out by the Japanese military government was by holding military training to support Japan in the war against allies. The army to be made by Japan is included in the master plan (Tairikhushi) issued by Supreme Army Headquarters in Tokyo. In early 1943, Japanese military forces suffered a setback. Japan's position in the occupied area experienced various threats. So that the plan for the formation of a reserve army cannot be delayed anymore. Japan then recruited military and semi-military personnel who were indigenous people who would help Japan in the war against allies [8].
Japan then recruited thousands of indigenous youth to become semi-military soldiers. The first military force was formed, heiho (auxiliary soldier), which began in mid-May 1943. The young man who was a member of Heiho was a single young man from the ages of 16 to 20 years. Another Japanese military army formation project is Giyugun which means, giyu = voluntary, gun = army corps. Giyugun is a Voluntary Army Corps. In Java, the term used is Defender of
the Motherland (PETA). Giyugun in Sumatra and PETA in Java, although they are the same military command but have no organizational links at all. In some residencies in Sumatra almost had their military training centre [9]."

 

As for the writing on your sword, I'm no Japanese language guy, but it doesn't look like Japanese to my eye.  Is there anyone in your area that might recognize this as Sumatran writing from the war?

 

For reference, for those of us that don't know the area and history:

 

 

Attached article below:

Sumatra Giyugun Creation.pdf

[Toryu2020]

I didnt see the kanji in the article but suspect this is better rendered "Jiyu-Gun" for accuracy and better pronunciation. Jiyu being individual freedom thus volunteer...

[SteveM]

This one is probably Giyūgun (義勇軍), which was a voluntary force who was active in PNG and elsewhere during the war. 

 

(pronounced with a hard G)

[Toryu2020]

I stand corrected. Wouldn't that better be rendered as "The Heroes Army" (a volunteer force...) 

[Kiipu]

Fujita Masao 藤田昌雄. Mōhitotsu no rikugun heiki shi: Shirarezaru rokaku heiki to dōmeigun no jittai もう一つの陸軍兵器史〜知られざる鹵獲兵器と同盟軍の実態 [One More History of Army Ordnance: The Role of Captured Weapons and the Condition of Japan's Coalition Forces]. Tōkyō, JP: Kōjin-sha, 2004. Page 239.

 

2004-fujita-もう一つの陸軍兵器史-pp239.pdf

[SteveM]

I think Giyugun is used as an entrenched euphemism for volunteer army, so if you deconstruct it back into a literal translation, it leads to confusion, hence the default translation of "volunteer army"

[Toryu2020]

Thank you. The article says Giyu means volunteer, funnily enough I checked my dictionary of military terms and it says "Giyuhei = a volunteer."