WW2 Japanese swords

[MG42UK]

Apologies if this is being posted in the wrong section, but I am looking to expand my collection of WW2 militaria to include some Japanese items. One of these would be an officer or NCO sword. But as this is an area that I have little knowledge about I wanted to get some guidance from those more knowledgable than me on this forum first

I am not looking for a crazy price 16th century family sword used by an officer in WW2 etc. in fact my price point is lower end, and I seem to have a choice between hand made swords used any officers or slightly cheaper factory made NCO swords. My preference is actually drawn to the factory swords because as historical WW2 artefacts they actually fit in with my collection of other items (i..e mass produced items like bayonets, helmets etc). I understand some people would sniff at this and rather look at the hand made swords first, but I am doing this more as a WW2 collector than a sword enthusiast.

So my question for those of more in the know on these items is whether I have got my bearings right here and the factory swords are sought after and collectable, or should I be looking more at the hand crafted jobbies?

All feedback appreciated, thanks.

[Stinkpotpete]

Check out the sticky threads in here, Stu started a very informative thread on the Type 95 NCO sword

[MAP]

Nothing wrong with your logic. A nice condition NCO sword is a great historical piece from WW2.

Just be sure to do your HW and post it for opinions first.

[ghp95134]

Check out the sticky threads in here, Stu started a very informative thread on the Type 95 NCO sword

Just in case you get lost: here. Lot of quality images, too!

--Guy

[Alex W]

Don't forget you can usually find machine made gunto cheaper than hand made versions. I was in the same boat as you, wanting a Japanese sword but more to complement a ww2 collection than start a specific nihonto collection. I ended up choosing a type 95 NCO as I found one in nice condition, cheaper than most of the poorer condition gunto. I also liked the ease of preserving a NCO (covering the entire thing in renwax) over a hand made blade.

Alex

[MG42UK]

Don't forget you can usually find machine made gunto cheaper than hand made versions. I was in the same boat as you, wanting a Japanese sword but more to complement a ww2 collection than start a specific nihonto collection. I ended up choosing a type 95 NCO as I found one in nice condition, cheaper than most of the poorer condition gunto. I also liked the ease of preserving a NCO (covering the entire thing in renwax) over a hand made blade.

Alex

Thanks everyone - very helpful advice and guidance

[Geoff Ward]

Here is another excellent source for information!: ohmura-study.net/900.html I'm personally quite fond of the standard Gunto as well as the high quality hand forged pieces!

Welcome!

Geoff

[MG42UK]

Thanks again for the feedback. I ended-up with this really nice NCO's Katana. The sword has a very well preserved brown painted aluminium cast handle. The hilt seems to be stamped with the Kokura Arsenal mark and the Lijima Swords Factory roundel.

Any feedback appreciated and apologies for the poor quality pics...

[Bruce Pennington]

Nice one, MG! Beautiful blade.

[Shamsy]

Nice looking sword, the level of condition that collectors of 95 should aspire to.

My thoughts on 98 VS 95 (sure to ruffle some feathers):
98 are a dime a dozen. You could buy one ever day and there will always be another that is different, better quality, a small variation etc. They are also easy to mix parts up with, so it can be difficult to know if the one you have is a Frankensword or actually genuinely original. Also, unless you happen to be a nihontoite, you probably don't know much about the oil quenched sword made by Bob and the lovely traditional sword crafted with skill and care. Officer sword prices are also static and have been for some time. Probably because there is no real end to the collecting and there is almost always going to be a better collection just around the corner.

95 on the other hand, they are the 'working mans' sword. They conform to a typical pattern, very rarely suffer frankensword (which is usually obvious anyway) and are easy to appreciate as an example of quality engineering (if not an individuals skill). The myth that there are 'good fakes that you cannot tell apart' is a load of crap, so they are much safer to invest in. Speaking of invest, good NCO and in particular the rarer patterns are worth far more now than some of the nicest gendaito produced during WW2. They have seen an astronomical rise in prices since I started collecting. I think this is due to the reasons above, plus the greatest thing of all; people can see a logical end to the collection (getting all 8 official patterns). If you're not satisfied with that of course, there are a myriad of ways to keep the collection going.

I'm a little bias so end of ramble.