Original Item: Only One Available. Purchased recently from a collector, this is a very nice wartime production Japanese Naval officer Katana in the Pattern 1937 Kai-Gunto setting. A Kai-Guntō (海軍刀, naval sword) is a weapon and symbol of rank used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the WWII Period. This is a very nice example, complete with scabbard, and shows only mild use, without much damage or wear. It still has the original brown tassel, which was used for all Naval officer grades.

The blade is very good condition, still quite sharp but showing use and scuffing on the upper half of the blade. There are also edge bends and dents, consistent with use in service. so this definitely looks to be a sword that saw actual action during WWI. Blade length is 25 1/2 inches and overall length 36 3/8 inches. It has a factory forged steel blade, with a single mounting hole in the standard Futsu 普通 (regular) tang, and a haagari (asymmetrically rounded) nakago-jiri.

Unlike most arsenal forged blades, the blade bears a signature (MEI) on the tang, which reads 武 泰 作 - TAKEYASU SAKU, which translates to "Takeyasu made (this)." There is no Naval "Anchor stamp", however this is a known maker who worked at Toyokawa Naval Arsenal (豊川海軍工廠, Toyokawa kaigun kōshō). There is the painted matching number 三 六 九 = 3 6 9 on the same side of the tang. This would be used to match the blade to fittings being made for it, as all blades varied in size and shape slightly.

The blade retains most of the original factory finish, with a simulated temper line. With the near total absence of rust, even on the tang, we are fairly certain that this is a stainless steel blade, but we have not been able to verify this. There are a few spots of oxidation, but these are possible on stainless blades exposed long term to weak acids. Japanese Kai-Gunto naval officers swords are somewhat rare, given that they usually went down with the ships. This particular example has the higher grade 1937 Pattern fittings with a textured black urushi lacquer scabbard, indicating this may have been made for a front line naval officer.

It has a heavy blacked brass plated iron tsuba (cross guard) and two large stylized O-Seppa (Large Spacers) surrounding it, though it looks like originally it may have had additional seppa. The tsuka (handle) has two plated iron Cherry-Blossom menuki (grip decorations), and a nice plated iron Kabuto-Gane (End Cap), with a brown rope loop. It has an excellent condition black oilcloth grip with complete olive-colored Ito (cloth binding) with fine decorative non-magnetic collar (fuchi). There is a very nice condition brown rank tassel attached to the end loop of the tsuka.

Condition of the blade, scabbard and fittings is very good, indicating light to moderate use. There is some plating loss on the various metal fittings due to age. As typical of the pattern, Cherry Blossom motifs appear on many of the fittings. The handle is tight to the blade, however there is some wobbling of the cross guard and spacers. It looks like some glue was used at some point to stabilize them, some of which got on the blade.

The Wood scabbard is finished with black textured urushi lacquer, and has mostly plated iron fittings, which like the handle show degradation to the plating. The koiguchi scabbard mouth fitting is non-magnetic. Unlike most we see, the fittings are still mostly tight on the scabbard body. Two hanging loops are present, and the condition is very good, with just a bit of splitting near the bottom of the scabbard.

The fuchi, tsuba, and O-Seppa are marked with western number 369 after a series marking. The end of the tsuka and inside the scabbard are also marked with number 369. This matches the Japanese numbers 三 六 九 (3 6 9) painted on the tang. This indicates that this set of KOSHIRAE (fittings) are a matched set, all made for this specific blade.

Really a lovely example of a Imperial Japanese Navy Kai-Gunto with a lovely signed Stainless Steel blade and matched fittings, ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 25 1/2"
Blade Style: Shinogi-Zukuri
Overall length: 36 3/8“
Scabbard Length: 28 1/4"

It has been over one thousand years ago that the art of making swords appeared in Japan. The swordsmiths of the time may not have known it but they were creating a legendary sword. The Samurai sword has seen combat in many battlefields. From the early days of the Samurai warrior to the fierce battles in the South Pacific during WWII.

Each hand-made Samurai sword is unique because it is forged from steel stock. A tremendous amount of work is dedicated to creating these pieces. They were an instrument of war as much as a beautiful artifact to adorn a room.

The Samurai sword has grown to be one of the most highly desired military antiques.