Type 32 Guntō (1) 0

Non-Commissioned officers Guntō 1889

Search in a pageSearch　The table of contents of the Type 32 Guntō

Yoshifuru Akiyama (left) and a cavalry-trooper brigade

"Kō" = for cavalry

Sword steel of the army standard, Blade length: 83.6㎝, Curvature: 1.35㎝,
machine made, tempering in oils, with a fuller and no Hamon,
Overall length: 100.2㎝, Made in the Tōkyō Artillery Arsenal

Type 32 Guntō is a government supply noncommissioned officer sword enacted in 1889 (August 23, Meiji 32).
There are two kinds of these Guntōes, the "Kō" for a cavalry trooper and the "Otsu" for a transport soldier.
The "Kō" for the cavalry trooper has long cutting edge length 6.2cm compared with the "Otsu", and a "Kō" has a leather fingerplate on a guard.
The Tsuka of the "Otsu" was improved by Japanese sword pattern in 1932 (32 advanced type), and was replaced with the Type 95 Guntō in 1935. The "Kō" was manufactured to the defeat in 1945.
Therefore, the "cavalry department" which was one of the milytary 3 major arming was reorganized by the trend of the time in 1942 after 1937 at the "armor department." However, the Third Cavalry Brigade was continued till the beginning of 1945, and the Fourth Cavalry Brigade was continued by horse-riding organization to the end of the war.
Some variations exist in a mounting (Koshirae) and a painting color.
Blade: Sword steel of the army standard. Hand-guard: Half-hard steel. Backstrap(Haikin): Dead soft steel or aluminum.
Scabbard(Saya): Soft steel.
Grip: Wooden or resin.
Suspension mount(Haikan): One or two.
Painting color: A hand-guard, a backstrap, and a Saya are chromium plating or black paint.
An aluminum backstrap and the grip made of resin also have green paint.
The "Otsu"was used also for the infantry and military-police noncommissioned officer.
The published Guntō is used very much for a long time and its age is also old.
Therefore, the painting color of the Koshirae and the exact state of plating are not known.
By the color which remains in the Koshirae slightly, the Saya, the hand-guard, and the Haikin are presumed to be black finished.

The surrounding situation of a guard : The hand-guard is pressed in the curve for reservation of intensity.
      The structure of a blade termination(ricasso) and the serial number on the ricasso.　
      The situation of a leather washers and spring-clip.
      The marks of the vertical file are attached to the back and front of the blade cutting part termination.
      Since it is attached to all other checked blades, this is considered to be one feature of a Type 32 blade.

Dai-kissaki, Round back edge(Maru-mune), The round stop of the tip and termination of the wide fuller (Hi);
Although it is a long blade, the feeling which it had is light like the parade-sabre for the one hand method of operation in a mock cavalry battle.

　　　(Kanime-nat)　
Crab's eye shaped nut screw

　　Blade No.99841,Black rust is attached to the root of the blade. Leather washer.
　　The remaining black colors of the blade side of the guard are strong.


	There are four characters of "2", "Dai", "Hei", and "discernment are impossible" centering on the stamp of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. Two upper characters are the Taishō-era 2 works. Two lower characters are considered to be an inspector's name.


As for the metal fittings which stop the spring clip of the throat, a taper is attached from the field of the throat with the curve of the Tsuba. It is a hole of this bolt receptacle that it looks white horizontally before the center of the shadow of a nest Saya.	The throat and fixed minus bolt: The throat and its circumference are visible to the remaining colors of black paint.

The section of a Suspension mount is a waterdrop type.


Although the throat side is visible to a scar of black paint, the chape(Ishizuki) side is visible also like a scar of chromium plating	Marks which deleted the serial number of the shoe-shaped chape with the file: The same serial № as a blade must have been stamped. It is a stamp of "Ho" to the bottom of it. This is an inspection mark of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal.

The shape of the throat, and a cross-sectional shape of a suspension mount:　There is a throat of a different shape
   from this(next page). It was manufactured for a long period of time, and each part of a mounting was revised inside
   frequently in the meantime. The steel materials and painting color of a scabbard.
Rust of a scabbard: The rust of the brown of ordinary iron is differed from. This rust is alike purple. A silver
portion can be considered also like the natural complexion of an alloy instead of degradation of chromium plating.
Black remains in the throat and the surrounding scabbard. It seemed to be black paint.

1
The table of contents of the Type 32 Guntō

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Type"Kō" & details(2)　　Type"Otsu" & details

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 January 8, 2014　

To the top of a page ▲

← Type 95 Table of contents

Type 98　　Type"Kō" & details(2) →