Japanese 1883 Naval Officer Dirk

[Alex W]

Hello everyone,

Picked up what I think is a 1883 model Japanese Naval Officers Dirk during the Black Friday sales which just arrived. Pretty sure it has shark skin over the scabbard. The only marking I can find is a N or Z on the cross guard. It's very dainty compared to my german daggers. Hoping to get the all clear with it and a rough date of manufacture. Are there any good sources of online information in relation to these?

Any comments welcome.

Thanks
Alex

[Long Shot]

You can start here:

Unraveling the Mystery of an Unidentified Navy Dagger Design

Then Search this forum for other posts - these are popular items

[Nick Komiya]

This might also help in nutshell style. Yours is the 1914 model dagger, not the 1883 model.

[Bruce Pennington]

Nice sharkskin saya! Mine just has the leather cover.

[Alex W]

Thanks for the replies and thanks Nick for the correct model year.

Ive been getting most of my information on these from Naval-Dirks

One more question, the blossom buds on my scabbard locket seem different. Is this just a minor design variation or does it signify something else?

[Nick Komiya]

That level of detail should vary by manufacturer, who made the necessary master molds for mass production. If they departed too greatly and ceased to be buds, that will be in violation of the Emperor's Edict that called for buds, but the sketches that accompany those edicts are what I used above as composites, and you see that those sketches were in no way definitive and precise like production blueprints and allowed for artistic interpretations by the craftsman. If you want to read about how much coordination actually existed between manufacturers, read this blow by blow case study.

[Gunto]

1914 wasnt that for the the sword knot.
The dirk is made after 1926. Meiji and Taisho period dirks had other designs.

[Nick Komiya]

Perhaps you are right that the dirk was made after 1926, but there is no such thing as a Model 1926 dagger, as the Edict applicable was still the 1914 Model edict. You can call it a Model 1914 dagger made after 1926. Anyway, the main point was that the owner missed the correct ID by 4 generations, thinking it was per 1883 regs.

[Alex W]

Thanks for the comments Nick and Gunto. If this drink was made after 1926, was this design manufactured up to 1945 or was it stopped before then?

Alex

[Gunto]

Yes , til end war.