Short Development History of Type 95 Gunto

[stegel]

Thanks Guy, Bruce and Nick for confirming that.
I'll go back and keep looking!

[Kiipu]

As an aside, it also means the scabbard was made and inspected by a private company and not an arsenal. As you well know, that in itself opens up a can of worms as it is oft stated that the scabbards were made by the arsenals.

社 = 各民間工場 [Each civilian/private factory]

[stegel]

it also means the scabbard was made and inspected by a private company and not an arsenal.

Are you 100% on this Thomas??

Jimbo told me years back that :

社 - SHA was used by the IJA arsenal system as the final inspection mark for weapons produced by private contractors, that is, for non-arsenal private contractor made weapons. (so you will also see the same inspection marks on Kokubinji Nambus, Tokyo Juki T-99 rifles etc too).

If what you say is correct, then the contractors would have final say in their products.(and yes, a potential can of worms as you say).
i would expect that the IJA have at least Civilian employees(Gunzoku) overlooking the final quality audit and stamping, perhaps at the contractors location rather than on the arsenal site?
This would still have the Arsenals overlooking production, or am i going down the wrong path here??

[Kiipu]

To clarify, the Japanese Army used various types of inspection marks such as a partial [or halfway] inspection stamp (the M stamp), a factory inspection stamp (in this case 社), and an arsenal final inspection stamp (you mentioned 1st Tokyo so it would be 東 in this case). The 社 inspection mark is a factory inspection mark used by all civilian factories making items for the army. One will find it on many of the parts that make up whatever the item in question is, in this case a sword. When the item is finished, it would undergo an arsenal final inspection and be stamped, the usual marks seen are 東, 名, 関, 小, 仁. Army regulations specified exactly where this stamp was applied.

The 社 stamp on the scabbard indicates that the scabbard was inspected at a civilian factory under army contract. The scabbard could have been made completely by the factory or it could have been supplied to it in an unfinished state and was then finished by the civilian factory.

I have compiled all the known army inspection marks seen on officer and NCO swords, and Bruce has inserted it in his magnun opus, Stamps (v.5.1)! See frames 13-14.
Arsenal Stamps. - Page 18 - Military Swords of Japan - Nihonto Message Board

My comment about civilian made and inspected was incorrectly worded. What I was aiming at was the popular and published belief that the arsenals made all the scabbards and supplied them to the contractors. I believe starting mid-war some of the civilian factories could also have gotten into the scabbard making business too. Sorry if I led you awry.

[stegel]

It's all good !! Thanks.
My understanding of the production process is the same as yours, so we are both on the same page!

[stegel]

While continuing my search on some of the rarer stamps, i have notice some placed in very peculiar locations. I've attached a couple for you to see.

Nagoya stamps


Tokyo inspection stamps are also seen on the back of the fuchi, and both Arsenal stamps are found on scabbard drag combs.


Now,

Army regulations specified exactly where this stamp was applied.

Do we have any translations providing any/all locations and what the intended applications in these locations were for??

[Nick Komiya]

I have already given details of army weapons marking regulations elsewhere, but here is how they defined markings and their positions for Gunto.

[Kiipu]

And another Mizuno candidate has cropped up as a possible maker of these Type 95 Military Swords 九五式軍刀. While scanning a 1941 Tōkyō business directory, I ran across an advertisement for Mizuno Tanji Shōten 水野丹冶商店. The company was established in 1887. Hopefully, others can shed more light on this topic than I can.

[Kiipu]

I ran across a 1943 Kōbe/Kanbe Guntō-Ten 神戸軍刀店 advertisement in an army-navy yearbook. Prior to 1943, this company went by Gōmei-Gaisha Kōbe/Kanbe Shōten 合名会社･神戸商店. This company was one of the final assemblers of Type 95 Military Swords. It is thought their logo consisted of a cherry blossom outline with either a "K" or a "一" within. Since this company does not appear in any of the Tōkyō business directories that I looked through, the proper pronunciation of the company name is currently unknown. These business directories frequently have an index for looking up company names. Thus, if the company is listed under "ko", then the name would be Kōbe. Based upon other companies beginning with 神戸, it would seem the most likely pronunciation would be Kōbe.

Below is a link to a 1942 advertisement for comparison.
Arsenal Stamps. - Page 5 - Military Swords of Japan - Nihonto Message Board

[Nick Komiya]

In case you also need Suya