Type 95 Sword Provisional Standard Type Approval Prototypes

[Nick Komiya]

There are quite a few Gunto fans here, so here is something from the archives for you, too. In 1935 April, the type 95 army sword was ready for provisional type approval. The 38 page document gives the history of its development and within that context all prototypes are shown from first to 8th generations. Here's the 4th and 8th for you to look at.
If you don't know what a provisional type approval is, read my article about the cherry blossom helmet.

[GHP]

Nick! Thank you so much for making your research results available to us!

--Guy

[Nick Komiya]

I know it is not kind to just give you a sneak peek-teaser and leave you guys high and dry, so I’ll give you a little bit more story, at least enough to quench your thirst.
The Type 95 NCO Sword was designed at a time of shifting trends, so designers had to go back to the drawing board many times to fully reflect the requirements of the times, resulting in 8 rounds of prototyping and a total of 12 years in development!
The predecessor, the type 32 required improvements in rust proof nickel finishing for the scabbard and it was also not a very handy weapon with a blade that many thought was blunt. So improvements were already in progress in 1923.
The first prototypes were ready in March of 1923, which followed the precedent of the Type 32 by having a cavalry version and another version for un-mounted troops. These were presented for testing at the Toyama School and the Cavalry School. However, surprisingly, both schools responded, saying that a sword for a two-handed grip was more desirable, which gave rise to a common version for both types of services. This was the concept of the second prototype, submitted to both schools in March 1925. The new design was favorably received, but some added weight as well as a shift of the center of gravity to the front was suggested. Such was then the third prototype that was tested in September 1926. The blade was thicker by 0.5mm among other changes. The verdict pointed to too much curvature in the blade and the schools preferred a grip closer in design to a Samurai sword. Also, the Cavalry School did some back-treading, saying a handguard would not be unwelcome.
The 4th round of prototype tests were carried out in May 1928 and the 5th round followed in September 1929. In this 5th round, the cavalry made a complete about-face and insisted on a proper handguard, which sent things back to square one, a different version for the two services. So separate designs were again presented in a 6th round in March 1931. And in February 1932, the 7th generation prototype was presented for final approval within the army. But it was bad timing, as by this time, the redesign of the officer’s sword was already in progress, so that harmony between the officer version and the NCO version now became an additional theme! The army chiefs therefore did not give their approval.
The new officer’s sword was introduced in February of 1934. In between, there was once again, a reversal of opinion regarding the need of a handguard for cavalry use, and the plan was again back on track to design a unified model. The 8th prototype sought also to bring in elements from the officer’s design, but yet another practical problem arose at this time. They had huge inventories of the type 32 sword that was about to become obsolete. Therefore, along with the new prototype, the designers made a modified version of the type 32, which made use of old parts. Surprisingly, the Toyama School even favored the modified type 32 over the prototype.
In the end, the modified type 32 went through another round of minor changes and was presented for final type approval in September 1935 as the Type 95.
I have omitted all the detailed requests for changes and implemented changes in between each prototype, but the story above shows you there is a lot more than meets the eye in the type 95 sword.
The sword captioned "revised sword" in the second photo is the modified Type 32.