My Contingency Model of the Type 98 Officer Sword

[Bruce Pennington]

Commonly called the "Type 3", or "Type 44", or "Marine Landing Sword", along with many other names that are farther off base, the Army wanted a simplified, cheaper, yet sturdier version of the officer sword.  They used a loophole in the Type 98 Emperor Order to create a temporary, contingency model.  Designed in 1938, produced and marketed in 1940, the Rinji seishiki (Contengency model in Japanese) or "RS" for short, didn't really catch on until after 1942, and most we see today hold blades made in 1944/45.  You can read about the history of the version on Nick Komiya's pages:

Deflating the Myth of the "Type 3" nomenclature

and

Unveiling the Rinjiseishiki Sword in 1940

 

My RS comes with a 1945 gendaito made by the RJT smith Kunitoshi.  The blade has several corrosion spots, so not a pretty sight, but if I ever decide to have it polished it will be quite beautiful.  The standard RS model came in a light tan colored saya with 1 chuso (release button).  The blades in them are showato.  Once the style became popular, officers ordered upgraded fittings to include lacquered wood, and eel, ray, or sharkskin covers.  The rigs with RJT blades are almost always in such upgraded fittings, and you will see double release chuso buttons.

 

Mine has the double buttons, but has a tan, metal saya, though you can see that it had a slightly upgraded texture to the paint.

 

The blade

 

Kunitoshi with Star stamp