Original Item: Only One Item Available. This is a very good condition early WWII issue Japanese Model 30 Arisaka rifle bayonet with a straight contoured cross guard, complete with a very nice steel scabbard and leather frog. The bayonet bears the arsenal markings of Toyoda Jidoshoki Seisakusho (Toyoda Automatic Loom Works) under Nagoya Arsenal supervision. This company would later become Toyota Motor Corporation.

Condition of bayonet is very good, though it definitely has seen some sharpening after production. This has worn a little of the bluing off near the edge of the blade, however it is still correctly only sharpened on the last 2/3 of the blade's edge. The condition is very good, with lots of the original bluing intact, and some great grip scales.

The scabbard is also very good, with only a few small dents, and no real rust or other wear. The leather frog is also in good shape, and is still supple, with intact stitching and an intact securing strap. There is also a small leather "capture tag" attached to it, but we cannot translate the writing on it.

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 War design, with a straight quillon and contoured "bird's head" pommel. The screw-retained wooden grips are the contoured type that do not wrap around. The blade is fullered and was originally blued, with a straight crossguard that is contoured on the sides. This configuration matches the 3rd of 6 patterns manufactured by Toyoda, when the production quality was still high. The bottom of the pommel is marked with serial number 57761, 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"