Condition: Excellent
Pattern: Type 98
Smith: Unmarked
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Product Description: This Type 98 Japanese Officer Sword is a very nice and desirable example, with wonderful eye appeal. The blade is 26 inches long, and is in excellent condition, nice and clean, with no damage to the cutting edge and no signs of improper cleaning. This blade is seated through a multi-piece closed tsuba, with the tang secured with a bamboo peg. The tang is unmarked. The military-style hilt on this attractive sword is typical officer quality, complete, and all original. It is constructed of a wood base, covered in ray skin with the traditional 3 brass cherry blossoms all wrapped in original brown cloth tape with a twist. The handle shows traces of handling and wear, but no damage. The kabuto-gane, (pommel) is copper/brass, and the intricate ornamentation retains all of the original detail. This Type 98 Japanese Officer Sword is complete with its original scabbard (saya), which is wood based, with a portion of its original leather cover. The top portion of the scabbard fitting is missing, where the spring release feeds into. The suspension ring is intact. This fine sword has a great look, and remains in excellent overall condition.
Historical Description: It has been suggested that the Japanese military made more use of swords in WWII than the armed forces of any other nation. Officers in WWII and the pre-war years were required to have them. For many Japanese soldiers and officers, the sword was a connection to traditional samurai mythology. Some of the swords carried by Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen were ancestral heirlooms, some of them hundreds of years old, often in new, military mounts. Others bought or were issued swords made specifically for Imperial Japanese Army or Navy use. Some of the military swords used traditionally made blades, while others used production shortcuts that arose from the need to produce the massive quantities of swords required by the growing military. There were many variants of swords used by the Japanese military in WWII, including the old style Army sword- the kyū guntō- and several models of the shin-guntō, which was made between 1935 and 1945. Swords used by the Japanese military in WWII, including the ancestral Samurai blades, the traditionally made military blades, and even the most inferior quality late war machine made pieces, are all collectible today for their historical value.
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