AdamF Posted April 3 Report Posted April 3 Hello. My son was given this sword today from his grandfather who is 78, it was his father's that was in the war. We don't know much about it. We are assuming it's a military version but im having a hard time finding some of the marks so we can figure out it's age, where it was made and any other info. Thank you for any help you can give us. Adam Franks 1 Quote
Scogg Posted April 3 Report Posted April 3 Hello Adam, welcome to the forum. What you have is an authentic Japanese Type 95 Military Sword. Sometimes called a Type 95 Guntō, or Type 95 NCO sword. Yours has the stamps on the ferrule indicating it was made by Suya Shoten, inspected by Tokyo first army arsenal, and administered by Kokura Arsenal. The "東" stamp on the blade (also middle stamp on the ferrule) is for 東京第一陸軍造兵廠監督課 = Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal Supervisory Section. According to my study and interpretation, your sword was made between April 1941 and March 1942. It looks to be in good condition, although the hanger piece at the end of the hilt (the sarute) is not factory original. It's very common for the sarute to be replaced or missing entirely, so this is not a big issue. It also looks like the scabbard number does not match the blade, this is also common, but it does hurt the value a bit from a collector standpoint. Are you able to get a close up shot of the flowers in the handle? Also the side openings of the tsuba? I like to catalog these swords, and am noting some fine details. Nice looking sword, and thank you for sharing. All the best, -Sam 4 Quote
AdamF Posted April 3 Author Report Posted April 3 Wow so cool thank you for all your info and help. I will share it with my family. Have a great night! Ps let me know if these pics are what you are asking for. Quote
Scogg Posted April 3 Report Posted April 3 Yes those are great, thank you! If you’d like to read some more on these. Here’s a great couple links: http://ohmura-study.net/794.html http://ohmura-study.net/957.html Additionally here on the NMB in the download section, I have written a document about the variations and evolution of the Type 95 military sword. Best of luck, and happy to help. -Sam 2 1 Quote
robinalexander Posted April 4 Report Posted April 4 Adam. despite the mismatched numbers (not uncommon its a very nice example. 2 Quote
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