Original Item: Only One Available. The end of WWII marked the beginning of the sword ownership ban in Japan. By law, Japanese citizens were forbidden to own swords. General McCarthur did not want the general population to be able to arm again. Most soldiers and citizens surrendered their swords to the American occupying forces.

The Americans destroyed a large number of swords by dumping them into the ocean or by melting them. But a small percentage made its way back to the United States and into the collector market.

This service used example is a genuine WWII Japanese Type 95 NCO Samurai Sword or katana, with aluminum handle construction and machine made fullered blade. Blade is 26 1/4 inches long, with an overall length of 36 1/4inches. The grip wrapping and menuki are cast-formed, and then painted to give the illusion of fabric wrappings and gilt menuki.

The design copies the typical WWII Imperial Japanese Army style fittings, known as the "New Military Sword" ( 新軍刀 - shin guntou) style. Normally the scabbard would be equipped with a single suspension ring, however the ring and bolster were removed from this example, though the mounting location is easily visible. It is said that during battle soldiers would not use the ring but rather would stick the sword through the belt the same way as the Samurai in ancient times. It may have been that the owner of this example felt that the ring got in the way, and removed it.

All NCO swords were numbered. This example has a matching serial number 97400 on both the blade and the throat of the scabbard. Most swords do not have matching numbers because somewhere along the life of the sword the scabbard was changed.

The hilt is in good condition, with the expected wear, though the spring loaded latch that attaches to the scabbard is unfortunately missing. It is not clear whether it broke, or was removed on purpose. This normally would prevent the sword from falling when the soldier is running. Traditionally this function is assigned to the Habaki (blade collar). But machine made swords like this one do not have the accuracy of manufacturing that enable the Habaki to perform such a function.

NCO Katanas were issued to soldiers who did not want to take their family sword to battle or who came from poor families that did not have swords to pass down through the generations.

The condition of this sword is good, but definitely shows that it saw quite a lot of use during its service life. Usually the ones we see are nearly unissued, but this has the look of a sword that was taken into battle, possibly multiple times. The blade shows post arsenal sharpening, and is still quite sharp. There are a few small nicks, but no major dents or issues with the edge. It has a few areas of light oxidation and staining, but no major rust pitting.

The brown paint on the hilt has mostly worn away, as it did not really stick well to the aluminum. There is however still yellow paint highlighting the menuki grip decorations. The scabbard still has some of the correct olive green paint, though it does show much wear and some light oxidation, particularly near the drag.

Overall a good service worn condition WW2 Type 95 NCO Katana that will appreciate in value over the coming years. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 26 1/4"
Blade Style: Katana
Overall length: 36 1/4“
Scabbard Length: 29"