I'd like to post the results of a recent survey we've been running on gunto with the all-brown tassel. Our most respected reference books have been calling this tassel a "late war army tassel." Now, while I cannot definitely refute this label, I offer a couple of data points that may point to another, maybe more accurate label.

1. In 2018, Nick Komiya posted this discussion of his discovery about a 1940 revision to the Uniform regulation. In it, the Gunzoku, civil branch of the Army, specifically the army Ko-in or Hanin-kan classes, were assigned an all-brown tassel to distinguish themselves from active duty officers. Here: What were the regulations for the Army civilian employees to carry swords?

But, the question remained unproven as to whether this brown tassel had already existed, or was created for the active Army, and was simply reassigned to the Gunzoku .... or was it a new design specifically created for the civil branch. Word-of-mouth collector stories tied the brown tassel to the "Type 3", "Type 44", "Late War", "Marine Landing Sword", - what we now know as the Contingency Model (or Rinji-seishiki) derivation of the Type 98 (discussed here: https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japan...ersion-584796/, and here: Unveiling of the Rinjiseishiki Sword in 1940). So, I set out to conduct a survey of swords bearing the brown tassel to see if the evidence supports one claim or the other.

I'm attaching the survey. It has 35 swords with the brown tassel. Only 7 are RS (Rinjiseishiki) gunto. The massive majority are Type 98, refitted civil blades with leather combat covers. Two actually have the Sakura civil service tsuba. None of the dated blades are before 1940 (only one is dated 1940). The rest are commensurate with dates falling after 1940, with a few in the 1942 range. Not what I'd call "late war."

You may make your own conclusions, but mine is that the data is in line with Nick's view that the tassel was made for Gunzoku personnel. Let me know what you think. And certainly post photos of swords you own that carry the tassel. I'll add them to the survey.

Respectfully,
Bruce Pennington

Edit: Cannot post my Word Document, so I'm linking to the NMB discussion here: Breaking News On The All-Brown Army Gunto Tassel - Page 2 - Military Swords of Japan - Nihonto Message Board