Late war wooden scabbard
I have a late war wooden scabbard for my type 98 shin gunto officer's katana. It is missing the collar around the mouth of the scabbard. I cannot find pictures of what such a collar would look like, so that I can fashion a replacement. The mouth clearly shows that there must have been something there. I would be so pleased if forum members could show me what the mouths of these late war wooden scabbards look like. Could you please help me out?
Post a pic of what you have.... They do differ a lot. Or have a look here Military Swords of Imperial Japan (GuntM)
Hi Dave, thank you for suggestion. I'll try to post some pics, but in the meantime just an explanation: I've just about exhausted the "normal" internet sources of information about my sword, and still require fine detail which are not readily discussed. For instance: I want to put in eyelets in the holes of my scabbard's leather field cover. But first I want to have my notion confirmed that these holes were always made with eyelets. I don't want to put in eyelets if some were actually issued without. Secondly, what color eyelets were used? I can't put in black ones if they always were brown. Concerning my question about the koigutchi: I've finished renovating the wooden scabbard but cannot find information about the material and shape of the missing koigutchi. Did they put brass ones on late war wooden scabbards, or something else? And then in closing this reply, I must lament my situation here in my part of the world: there's no chance of my visiting an arms fair where I can browse through arrays of shin-gunto and seeing with my own eyes what I need to replace. I'm totally dependent on advice from guys like you. The number of folks I know who have a "samurai" sword is exactly Zero. Zilch. I'm on my own (sigh).
You will need to post good pics of the entire Type 98 to get a detailed answer.
John
There is not much chance of getting meaningful help without you showing photos of what exactly you have, as leather-clad wooden scabbards were private field adaptations and were not regulation items for a Type 98 sword. Like field-made items, there will be great variations in specs, so it becomes a question of what features are most commonly associated with the particular maker of the aftermarket scabbard you have. There is also the question of whether you are really dealing with a Type 98 or a Rinji-Seishiki stand-in model.
Many, if not most, of the combat saya seen on the web are missing the koiguchi because they weren't secured by a screw like the ones on the 98s. My Mantetsu in combat saya is missing the koiguchi. I have one on my navy Takayama-to but the picture is bad. Once I get a chance to make a better photo, I'll post it.
Thank you so far, I understand the need for pics and will now work on supplying them. I can't wait to have you guys point me straight. I admit I could have made wrong deductions from my limited experience in this field. That's for sure!
On the eyelets. If the cover had eyelets, it will have traces, and show as such. So you may add eyelets. If the cover never had eyelets, don't try to improve it by adding eyelets.
One of my wooden scabbards does not have a koiguchi 鯉口. So that they can be either way. There are many variations of the wooden scabbard cover.
The cover on mine is sewn-on all the way along the top side. The cover is not meant to be removed. No eyelets.
Here’s a crude one
Similar Threads
Posting Permissions
.
Bookmarks