Legally rebutting the existence of a Type 3 Army Officer's Sword

[Kiipu]

That would have made the sword a Type 0 or Type 1 and no Type 3.

Great post Nick! I refer to these swords informally as Type 100s as this would have been the designation if adopted. The reason for Type 100 can be found in JACAR document C01005136200.

[Nick Komiya]

Thanks for the heads up on the Type 100 designation, but Rinji-Seishiki never could get a Type designation, so calling it a Type is misleading, exactly what all the newspapers avoided doing in their Jan. 1941 stories. I merely wanted to point out that had the sword really been given official blessings of the Emperor in the form of an Edict, as claimed by Ohmura-san, it had to be before making the sword public to the press. Therefore a Type 3 designation was physically impossible, even when following his line of argument.

[Kiipu]

The early Type 100s were serialized, dated, and signed. Below is a list of the swords made in 1941 to give an idea how production was moving along. At least one sword was refitted as a Type 98!
Serial Number　裏銘 Ura mei　表銘 Omote mei　Source
106　昭和十六年七月日 A day in July 1941　宗利 Munetoshi.　This can be seen in John Slough's book.
470　昭和十六年十一月日 A day in November 1941　友麿 Tomomaro.　Pawn Shop Gunto
535　昭和十六年十二月日 A day in December 1941　友麿 Tomomaro.　Need help.with translation gunto sword.
566　昭久 Akihisa　昭和十六年十二月 December 1941. Timeline Type 3 Gunto
621　昭和十六年十二月日 A day in December 1941　友麿 Tomomaro.　Item sold and NMB listing removed.

[Sporter90]

Those serial numbers are assembly number, not the same as the serial number that you must put on guns, for example. They are 2 or 3 digits stamped or paint brushed on the tang. IMHO, to say those swords are serialized is inaccurate.

[Kiipu]

My intent in posting was to provide evidence that Type 100s did exist prior to 1943. The usage of Type 100 is the same as referring to the Type 94 and Type 98, it is strictly an informal collector term.

I will briefly expand upon my comment made earlier in that the serial numbers follow a unique timeline. Below is a link to my observations made in February of this year. I would like to point out that it was the writings of Nick Komiya and Ohmura san that gave me the hints as to what to look for. It was just a matter of connecting the dots of the archival documents with the extant swords.
Arsenal Mark on RJT sword Fittings

I do not expect everyone to agree with my observations and that is OK as well. It is the diversity of opinions that causes some to dig deeper, a challenge so to speak, to learn more and better one's own understanding.

[Bruce Pennington]

Now you're going to challenge me to start a survey of Rinji seishiki gunto!!! Ha! I do need something to do, lately.

I have been collecting stamped blades, both inspector stamps and numbered blades, and have to agree with Kiipu. We have been saying for years that the numbers were all from fitting shops. I no longer believe that to be the case. Without hijacking the purpose of this fabulous thread, I'll just say that the stamped numbers flow from 1941 to 1945 in numerical order, by smith. The massive majority of stamped numbers are all on RJT smith blades, with few few exceptions. I still believe the painted numbers are from the fitters, but the stamped numbers are not.

Here's a small sample of some of the smiths and their number flow (I wish I knew how to attach a Word doc!!!; screenshots instead):

[Kiipu]

I would like to add an addendum to my post above and state that I believe this Type 100 serialization scheme was implemented by the Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal 東京第一陸軍造兵廠.

In addition, Tōkyō 1st also used a unique serial number for the swords made in the arsenal forge. These swords are clearly engraved with 東京第一陸軍造兵廠. There are several examples linked to starting at the post below and continuing to 2021-08-15. The conversation jumps around a bit and is interwoven with other topics. Based upon the serial numbers, over 644 swords were made by the arsenal forge and production included both Type 98s and Type 100s. I have included the information on the lowest and highest serial numbers below.
Arsenal Mark on RJT sword Fittings

Low/High Serial Number　裏銘 Ura mei　表銘 Omote mei
47　☆ 東京第一陸軍造兵廠 宣威 [star stamp] Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal Nobutaka　昭和十七年十二月吉日 A lucky day in December 1942.
644　東京第一陸軍造兵廠 正武 Tōkyō 1st Army Arsenal Masatake　昭和十九年六月吉日 A lucky day in June 1944.

As can be clearly seen, Tōkyō 1st was very keen on keeping track of the sword blades coming into the arsenal and also the ones made within the arsenal.