Original Item: Only One Item Available. This is a very rare late WWII issue Japanese Model 30 Arisaka rifle bayonet with straight cross guard, complete with an intact wooden scabbard. 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 use and sharpening after production. These bayonets were originally only sharpened on the last 2/3 of the edge, but this one has a fully sharp edge, with markings from several sharpenings. The body of the blade has also had most of the original blued finish removed from sharpening and cleaning. There is overall light weathering and rust speckling on the metal components of the hilt, and some wear to the wooden grip panels.

Late pattern bayonets in any condition are extremely rare, as most were discarded, and they were generally not well made and broke often. Wooden Scabbards are also relatively rare, as they are not nearly as resilient to time and the environment as the original steel scabbards were. This example has metal fittings at the top at bottom, with string securing wrappings around the body. It still retains much of the original paint.

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 Late War design, with a straight quillon, with a rectangular pommel. The rivet-retained wooden grips are the contoured wrap-around type. The blade is unfullered and was originally blued, with a straight crossguard that is contoured on the sides. This configuration matches the second to last type manufactured by Toyoda, when production was rushed. The bottom of the pommel is marked with serial number 75360, underneath 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"