Jump to content

"1944 Pattern" Shin-gunto Army Officer Sword


SARGE
 Share

Recommended Posts

Gents,

 

This Army Officer sword is generally referred to as the "1944 Pattern" Shin-gunto. These swords were simplified versions of the 1930s version of the Shin-gunto and were apparently meant to use less materials to produce an acceptable Army Officer sword so late in the war. It is assumed that material shortages dictated the manufacture of this simplified late war sword.

 

This particular sword is typical of the style and has a painted metal scabbard with darkened simplified fittings. The fittings are steel instead of brass and have been copper washed and darkened over the copper that was plated on the steel to resist rust and allow the darkening agent to better adhere to the steel fittings. The blade is actually very nice with a faint straight hamon (temper line) along the edge but I have not taken the sword down to see if there are any markings on the blade tang. Most of these swords will have 1944 dates. The hilt has simplified blackened steel fittings like those found on the scabbard. The Tsuba (guard) is plain steel and has a white metal Seppa (washer) which is typical of these swords. The pommel has no loop and the brown sword tassel is affixed to the hilt by threading it through a hole in the pommel fitting instead of attaching it to a separate loop. Again, to simplify production. The grip wrap on these swords is quite different. It may be that a shortage of the proper Tsuka-ito (binding) caused various kinds of cloth binding to be used but these swords will be found with many different kinds and colors. This particular sword has the expected white sharkskin over the wooden base but the bindings are loosely wrapped in an odd loose configuration. This reddish brown binding is thinner than the dark brown binding seen on earlier swords. In fact, binding of brown, green, red, etc. will be found on these swords either loosely or very tightly wrapped. This is to be expected.

 

These swords have been attributed to Japanese Marines, or other organizations, but they are simply late war Army Officer swords produced out of necessity due to material shortages. They do make for an interesting variation for the collector.

 

 

 

 

1944 sword.JPG

1944 sword hilt.JPG

1944 sword scab throat.JPG

1944 scab drag.JPG

1944 sword guard.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are these swords also called the "Type 3"sword? Thanks

 

Thanks for the kudos guys. This is actually a very well made sword for being made so late in the war.

 

Shemp,

 

Yes. this is a very good question. Some collectors do call this the "Type 3" sword (year 1943 in the Gregorian calendar or the third variation). The problem is that Officer swords were private purchase items paid for out of the officer's pocket and not an item of issue. They could vary widely with expensive fittings or ancestral blades, etc. That is why I said "This sword is generally referred to as the 1944 Pattern Shin-gunto" in my introduction. Jim Dawson, in his book, "Swords of Imperial Japan 1868-1945" says he could find decrees from 1934 for "Type 94" and 1938 for "Type 98" Army Shin-gunto. The only real difference in these swords was the change from two suspension rings and bands to one suspension ring on the scabbard. So, if these variations are seen as Type 1 and Type 2 then the late war 1944 Pattern might be seen as Type 3.

 

With all these designations bear in mind that the NCO version of this sword was an item of issue and was referred to as the Type 95 (Kyujugo shiki gunto). There are also three recognized variations of these item of issue swords so it is all very confusing. Most of these terms are used by collectors to be able to categorize sword style variations so we can pigeon hole slight differences into various compartments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kudos guys. This is actually a very well made sword for being made so late in the war.

 

Shemp,

 

Yes. this is a very good question. Some collectors do call this the "Type 3" sword (year 1943 in the Gregorian calendar or the third variation). The problem is that Officer swords were private purchase items paid for out of the officer's pocket and not an item of issue. They could vary widely with expensive fittings or ancestral blades, etc. That is why I said "This sword is generally referred to as the 1944 Pattern Shin-gunto" in my introduction. Jim Dawson, in his book, "Swords of Imperial Japan 1868-1945" says he could find decrees from 1934 for "Type 94" and 1938 for "Type 98" Army Shin-gunto. The only real difference in these swords was the change from two suspension rings and bands to one suspension ring on the scabbard. So, if these variations are seen as Type 1 and Type 2 then the late war 1944 Pattern might be seen as Type 3.

 

With all these designations bear in mind that the NCO version of this sword was an item of issue and was referred to as the Type 95 (Kyujugo shiki gunto). There are also three recognized variations of these item of issue swords so it is all very confusing. Most of these terms are used by collectors to be able to categorize sword style variations so we can pigeon hole slight differences into various compartments.

 

Thank you Sarge.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Knowledge continues to be revealed and evolve. This variation of the Type 98 officers gunto, authorized in the late 1930's as a less expensive alternative to the Type 98, could be purchased by officers and it could be made with less labor and cost involved. Japan was strapped for swords due to the losses caused during the "China Incident". This sword variation was authorized as a temporary/contingency sword, it was not given a type designation but, rather called a Rinji Seshiki [sp?]. This information was revealed in the last year or so by translation work by Nick Komiya [sp?] over at War Relics Forums and persistent digging into documents/books by Bruce Pennington on several forums. I'm just a relayer of this information. :)

Chuck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chuck,

Many thanks for this new information concerning what to call this particular sword style.  A "temporary/contingency sword" designation works fine for me.  I think I will add quotes to my "1944 Pattern" designation in the title as well since that is what some collectors call it.  Privately purchased Officer swords will usually show wide variation in the decoration, blades, fittings, etc. depending upon what raw materials were available to the maker and how much money the Officer had to spend.  

New information is how we learn.  ?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...