Shin gunto
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Shin gunto or shin-gunto is Japanese for neo-army sword or new army sword. The Shin gunto is a style of japanese katana designated as part of the uniform for officers of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1934 until the end of World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy also implemented a very similar design in the 1930s called a kai gunto.
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[edit] Creation of a new army sword
Until 1934 the standard sword of the Japanese military was known as the kyu gunto first military sword. The kyu gunto closely resembled European and American swords of the time, with a wrap around hand guard and chrome plated scabbard.
In response to rising nationalism within the armed forces, a new style of sword was designed for the Japanese military in 1934. The shin gunto was styled after a traditional slung katana of the Kamakura period (1185-1332). Officers' ranks where symbolized by coloured tassles tied to a loop at the end of the hilt. The corresponding colours where; Brown/red & gold General, brown & red field officer, brown & blue company or warrant officer, brown sergeant, sergeant major or corporal.
[edit] Type 94
The "type 94" shin gunto officers sword replaced the western style kyu gunto in 1934. It had a traditionally constructed hilt (tsuka) with ray skin (same) wrapped with traditional silk wrapping (ito). A cherry blossom (a symbol of the Japanese army) theme was incorporated into the guard (tsuba), pommels (fuchi and kashira) and ornaments (menuki).
The scabbard (saya) for the type 94 was made of metal with a wood lining to protect the blade. It was painted brown and was suspended from two brass mounts, one of which was removable and only used when in full dress uniform. The fittings on the scabbard where also decorated with cherry blossom designs.
The blades found in "Type 94" shin guntos ranged from modern machine made blades through contemporary traditionally manufactured blade to ancestral blades dating back hundreds of years.
[edit] Type 95
The "Type 95" shin gunto released in 1935 was designed for use by non-commissioned officers (NCOs). It was designed to resemble an officer's shin gunto but be cheaper to mass produce. All NCO swords had machine made blades with deep "blood grooves" (bo hi) and a serial number stamped on the blade in arabic numerals. Initially the hilts (tsuka) were cast out of metal (either copper or aluminum) and painted to resemble the traditionally produced items on the officer's swords. They had brass guards similar to the officer's shin gunto.
By 1945 a simplified NCO sword was being produced. It had a simple wooden hilt with cross hatched grooves for grip. The scabbards where made from wood instead of metal and the guard and other fittings where made from iron instead of brass.
[edit] Type 98
The change to the "Type 98" shin gunto occurred in 1938 and was essentially a simplification of the "Type 94". There were only minor differences between early "Type 98" swords and the "Type 94" swords that preceded them. Most notably the second (removable) hanging point was deleted from the scabbard.
Many changes occurred to the "Type 98" between 1938 and the end of the war in 1945. Late in the war Japan's supply of metal was drying up and shin gunto where produced with painted wooden scabbards, and with cheaper or no brass ornamentation. Some of the final swords produced in the last year of the war utilized cheap copper or blackened iron fittings.
[edit] After the war
After the end of the war, swords were outlawed in Japan and thousands of Japanese swords were either destroyed or confiscated by the occupying forces. Today there are more Japanese swords in the US than in Japan.
[edit] References
- Jowett, Phillip "The Japanese Army 1938-45" Osprey publishing, 2002, ISBN-1841763535
