Prototypes 5 to 8 (1929-1935)
In the 5th round of prototyping, the cavalry made a complete about-face and insisted on a proper handguard, which sent things back to square one, a different version for the two services. So separate designs were again presented in a 6th round in March 1931. And in February 1932, the 7th generation prototype was presented for final approval within the army.
By this 7th prototype design, combat experience in the Manchurian Incident made it clear that the Type 32 sword was totally ineffective against an enemy clad in heavy winter uniforms, which just caused blades to bounce back. So a sharper sword that allowed a two-handed grip for a heavier blow quickly became the practical choice in combat. This was the main cause for the revival of the Samurai sword design for Guntos.
But by this time, the redesign of the officer’s sword was already in progress, so the NCO version was put on hold to await the outcome of the revamping of the officer’s version, which took over the Samurai sword theme.
The new officer’s sword was introduced in February of 1934 and work on the NCO version was resumed with an eye to ensure harmony with the new Samurai style swords for the officers.
The 8th prototype thus sought to bring in elements from the officer’s design, but yet another practical problem arose at this time. They had huge inventories of the type 32 sword that was about to become obsolete. Therefore, along with the new prototype, the designers made a modified version of the type 32, which made use of old parts. Surprisingly, the Toyama School even favored the modified type 32 over the "done from scratch" prototype.
In the end, the modified type 32 went through another round of minor changes and was presented for final type approval in September 1935 as the Provisional Type 95.
I have omitted all the detailed requests for changes and implemented changes in between each prototype, but the story above shows you there is a lot more than meets the eye in the type 95 sword.
The sword captioned "improved version" in the photo below is the modified Type 32.
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