One Last Gambit on Iwo Jima (Type 94 and Type 95 Swords)

On this day in history, March 25th 1945, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (probably) led the final Japanese assault during the battle for Iwo Jima. Unlike earlier battles, where Japanese forces had conducted terrifying large scale but tactically foolish banzai charges, General Kuribayashi had ordered the defenders of Iwo Jima to forgo such attacks and engaged in a more deliberate defense.

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This decision reaped a bloody toll of the Marines, Soldiers and Seamen charged with wresting the tiny 8-square mile island away from the Japanese. The battle, which lasted from February 19th - March 26th 1945 killed 6,821 US personnel and resulted in almost 20,000 Japanese deaths.
While the island was declared secured on the 16th of March, fierce fighting still continued through the night of the 25th. On that date 200-350 Japanese Soldiers crept into a rear area and launched a stealth attack upon unsuspecting US forces, inflicting heavy casualties before being wiped out. Even with this dramatic apparent finale, the Army's 147th Infantry regiment was regularly engaged in rooting out holdouts over the next three months.
While accounts differ, it is believed the General Kuribayashi led the final assault himself instead of committing seppuku like many other senior officers would have done. Regardless, weapons such as these would undoubtedly have been wielded by men taking part in the final assault.

The Officer's Sword
On the top is a Type 94 shin gunto officers' sword, which would have been privately purchased by an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. These were adopted in 1934 and replaced a more Western style sword as the Japanese bounced back towards traditional culture from western armament and training. The handle is wood and covered in white ray skin. It is then wrapped with a silk binding, and held to the blade with a single wood / bamboo peg. While blades of all ages can be found in these fittings (dating back to the 1500s), this one is a "Showa period" blade and dates from the 1930s or 1940s. It was produced by the smith Yoshida Yoshitsugu as indicated by the signature.

The majority of blades from this period were made with a blend of modern and traditional means. While they were still forged by a highly skilled smith, folding the steel over and over, that smith was likely aided by machinery like power-hammers and the like. The neatest feature of this blade is the wavy "Hamon" or temper line. This is caused by the application of clay to the blade during the hardening process, resulting in a harder (but more brittle) cutting edge and a softer (and more resilient) spine.

The NCO's Sword
This is contrasted with the Type 95 shin gunto, designed for issue to NCOs and to mimic the Type 94 and its traditional fittings. The handle is made from elaborately detailed cast aluminum, and follows the officers' sword down to the texture on the rayskin and pattern of the "wrapping" Instead of a bamboo peg, the blade is held in place with a single screw. The handle would have originally been painted to match the Type 94, but the years and hard use have worn all but the faintest remnants away. The blade is completely machine made, much as a bayonet would have been, and features a full length fuller and serial numbers on the blade and scabbard.

The Last Gasp of Combat Swords
WW2 was the final (long overdue) dying gasp of the sword as a relevant combat weapon, with only the Japanese using them in combat in any great number. The psychological effect was significant however, and spoke directly to the Japanese willingness to close with their foe. From the US perspective they made EXCELLENT war trophies, both from the battlefield and mainland Japan after the surrender.

So great was the lust for "Samurai swords" that by the end of the 1940s there was undoubtedly more Japanese military swords in US than in Japan. This is a little sad, especially where ancient family swords are concerned, but since they were treated remarkably well post-war by the Allies (better than the Japanese had treated their defeated enemies) we'll call it a wash.