Arisaka 99 Question?

[Erichjr]

I have a nice Jap Arisaka 99 rifle i picked up recently
with matching numbers and the mum. My Question is
about the mum, it has two lines going through it, can
anyone tell me what that might mean? I posted a photo
of were the lines would be on my mum.

[ottomaton]

The mum is the sign of the venerated Emperor.

When the Japanese gave up there was an order to obliterate the mums before handing them over to the U.S. so that they wouldn't be giving away the symbol of the Emperor.

I think the general consensus is that the ones that are only defaced are done by people who either didn’t have the means to do a proper job.

There is also a bogus story that MacArthur ordered them destroyed, but apparently that is sheer fantasy.

[Jack T]

I have a mum struck the same way. The story is that soldiers in the field who did not have the equipment to grind off the mum, were told to strike it with their bayonets to deface it before surrendering the weapon. No idea if there is any truth to that but I have seen quite a few with the two marks across the mum.

[Erichjr]

mum

At first i thought it was ground, but as i looked at it with a glass,
it apears to have been done delicately with a small file, and care
was taken that the line did not extend beyond the pedals of the mum.