Hello,

This sword corresponds stylistically to a Type 98 Shin Guntō (新軍刀) – the standard officer’s sword issued to Imperial Japanese Army officers during World War II (1935–1945). These swords blend traditional katana aesthetics with modern manufacturing processes. Genuine WWII guntō swords were often either handmade by smiths (gendaitō) or machine-made in factories (shōwatō), depending on rank and cost constraints. After WWII, a vast number of similar swords – both originals and reproductions – flooded the market, particularly in the 1950s–1980s, serving military collectors and the booming interest in Japanese militaria. Your piece, purchased around 1986, likely belongs to this post-war collectors’ production era.

Detailed Description:
The sword features a blade measuring approximately 22 7/16 inches in length with a traditional slight curvature and a handle (tsuka) of about 8 inches, wrapped in the typical ray skin (samegawa) and a cotton or silk tsuka-ito crisscross pattern. The guard (tsuba) and fittings (koshirae) align with military styles, including an iron or brass tsuba and painted metal scabbard (saya), which in this case appears to be brownish, a standard color for officer mounts.
Based on visual observation, the blade finish is relatively bright with a clear edge, but there is no visible hamon (temper line) or strong forging marks, suggesting it is machine-made rather than hand-forged. The construction, fittings, and overall finish indicate manufactured quality consistent with mid-to-late 20th century production, not a handmade gendaitō sword.
The mounting onto mass-produced hardware without personalized or handmade components further supports the assessment of a collector’s replica or late 20th-century manufactured piece, rather than a wartime battlefield sword.