1941 IJA Weapons Prices in today's values

[Nagoya10]

That was a very interesting and enjoyable story Nick posted. What is sad to think about, though, is that there is a great chance all 3 of those soldiers died in horrific battles or conditions and if those Gunto's survived to be captured there is a good chance they were used to hack at trees and bushes in the back yard of a housing tract in Cleveland or some other place.

I believe it is better to remember the items and people in the time period they were used in.

[Bruce Pennington]

Nick,
You did that just to choke me up, didn't you!

Stories like these are priceless and more valuable than the things we collect.

[DaveR]

Regarding "bread and milk" prices, the US propaganda dept. did a very succinct summing up on a fake 10 yen note mass dropped on Japan ........

[Nick Komiya]

1942 Gunto Summer Sale at Ginza Matsuya Department Store

In the previous post, you read about people coming to the department store to buy Gunto. That was actually a common outlet for Gunto sales back then. Even in my childhood in the 60s, Japanese swords were sold at my local department store in Shibuya in the arts section beside oil paintings and such.

Here is another similar Sword Fair proposal submitted to the Ministry of the Army for Hideki Tojo’s approval in July 1942. Surprisingly, this event was being organized by the 日本刀剣新聞社, the Japanese Sword Newspaper, a newspaper I never knew existed. They wanted to promote social awareness of Nihonto as a weapon and contribute to the development of the art.

The reason for seeking Tojo’s permission was because they wanted to promote the event as a ministry backed event.

The location was to be at the Matsuya Department Store in Ginza, a prime location, and it was to be held from 25th August to 30th August 1942.

On display were to be works from top smiths of which 27 smiths are named in the document below, plus works from another 20 or so artisans, making it a total of about 50 sword smiths.

Each smith could exhibit up to 10 swords each, presented in shirasaya (plain wooden scabbards) regardless of whether the blade was for sale or not. They all had to be traditional blades around 2.3 Shaku in length, suitable for Gunto use.

An on-site sword forging demonstration by two master sword smith’s was also planned, the local police permitting.

Separate from the display of these blades, were to be displays of army and navy exterior fittings. Interestingly, the paper additionally says here, “to include the latest exterior specs”. There is no mistake that this is referring to the Rinji-Seishiki models. Though collectors may rarely see those models dated earlier than 1943, they were definitely displayed for sale here at this department store in August 1942.

[Kiipu]

Separate from the display of these blades, were to be displays of army and navy exterior fittings. Interestingly, the paper additionally says here, “to include the latest exterior specs”. There is no mistake that this is referring to the Rinji-Seishiki models. Though collectors may not see those models dated earlier than 1943, they were definitely displayed for sale here at this department store in August 1942.

The earliest Type 100 that I am aware of is dated December 1941. The early Type 100s were a quality sword made by good smiths. Later on, some lower quality blades were used, probably to increase production quantity.
Timeline Type 3 Gunto, Post #9