Original Item: Only One Item Available. This is a very nice service worn WWII issue Japanese Model 30 Arisaka rifle bayonet with a hooked quillon cross guard, complete with a rubberized canvas Scabbard with integral frog. This is only the fourth time that we have had one of these rare scabbards. They often completely crumble over the years, so even partly intact examples are desirable. The bayonet bears the arsenal markings of Kokura Arsenal in the Kyūshū Island of Japan, one of the major producers of the type 30 bayonet.

Condition of bayonet is very good, showing light wear from service and age. It looks to be earliest pattern manufactured by Kokura, so it was made early in the war, or possibly pre-war, and saw long service, so it is in great shape considering that. The blade is nick free, and still has a great bright finish, with just a bit of speckling. It has been sharpened at arsenal, though it does still have the original "blunt" edge on about 1/3 of the blade nearest the ricasso. It was probably fitted with a new scabbard later in the war when the original scabbard as damaged or lost.

Rubberized canvas scabbards like this are almost never seen, due to the material breaking down over the decades. Scabbard is in great shape, however the rubber has become quite hard over the decades, as is standard. The frog portion has lost a lot of the rubber between the throat and the belt loops, but the canvas itself is still strong.

Please see Watts and White , THE BAYONET BOOK page 212, illustration 474 for bayonet and page 213, illustration 477 for scabbard.

History of the Type 30 Bayonet-

The Type 30 bayonet (三十年式銃剣 sanjunen-shiki juken) was a bayonet designed for the Imperial Japanese Army to be used with the Arisaka Type 30 Rifle and was later used on the Type 38 and Type 99 rifles. Some 8.4 million were produced, and it remained in front-line use from the Russo-Japanese War to the end of World War II.

Type 30 Bayonet was a single-edged sword bayonet with a 400 millimeters (15.75 in) blade and an overall length of 514 millimeters (20.24 in) with a weight of approximately 700 grams. The Type 30 bayonet is also known as the "Pattern 1897 bayonet". Early Type 30 bayonets usually sported a hooked quillon guard that gave it a distinct look, but later models had a straight hand guard. 

This bayonet is of the early Pre-WWII design, with a hooked quillon and a contoured "bird's head" pommel. The screw-retained wooden grips are the contoured and do not wrap around. The blade is fullered and was originally bright steel, and the crossguard is hooked and contoured on the side. This configuration matches the earliest pattern manufactured by Kokura. The bottom of the pommel is marked with serial number 94195 next to the series marking.

The design of the bayonet was originally intended to give the average Japanese infantryman a long enough reach to piece the abdomen of a cavalryman. However, the design had a number of drawbacks, some caused by the poor quality of forgings used, which tended to rust quickly and not hold an edge, and to break when bent.

These bayonets were manufactured from 1897 to 1945 at a number of locations, including the Kokura Arsenal, Koishikawa Arsenal (Tokyo) and Nagoya Arsenal, as well as under contract by private manufacturers including Matsushita, Toyoda Automatic Loom and many others, including Jinsen Arsenal in Occupied Korea. Towards the end of the war, production was so rushed that markings could be left off.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 15 3/4"
Blade Style: Single Edge Bayonet
Overall length: 20 1/4“
Crossguard: 3 3/4”
Scabbard Length: 16 1/2"