A GOOD ORIGINAL SECOND WORLD WAR JAPANESE MODEL 1897 TYPE 30 ARISAKA (JUKEN) BAYONET AND SCABBARD MANUFACTURED BY KABUSHIKI KAISHI MATSUSHITA KINZOKU BETWEEN 1943 AND 1944 TO FIT THE 6.5MM TYPE 30 RIFLE, THE MEIJI 38 RIFLE AND THE TYPE 96 AND 99 SQUAD LIGHT MACHINE GUNS.
This bayonet is in good original condition and was manufactured during the Second World War by Kabushiki Kaishi (KK) Matsushita Kinzoku (Matsushita Metalworking Corp.), according to Ralph E. Cobb’s 2014 list of Arisaka Bayonet makers (revised on September 1 2024). This trademark of an ‘arrowed M’ is the later version of the wartime manufacturers mark. Knowing how meticulous Ralph E. Cobb’s work is, I’ll stand with his attribution. The curved but angular pommel (not squared off as on later versions), truncated quillon, fullered blade and ‘finial nosed’ scabbard indicate that this is a later production model of the 30th-year bayonet (三十年式銃剣 Type 30 bayonet) classified as a Variation D bayonet by Terri Shaw of Nambu World.
The 6.5mm Type 30 rifle entered service with the forces of Imperial Japan in 1897. The Type 30, Juken (bayonet) that accompanied the rifle is frequently called the Arisaka bayonet and served Japanese forces throughout the Second World War. The original Type 30 bayonet, like this example, was well made with a bright blade and a heavily blued hilt. It was fitted with an equally well made steel scabbard. Indeed, the British Pattern 1907 sword bayonet was modelled on it. However, as the war progressed, and the pressures on Japanese industry increased, the quality and finish of Japanese bayonets rapidly deteriorated.
Eventually, the hooked quillon and the blade fullers were deleted and the metalwork only partially finished. Later versions often show crude machining marks and poor bluing and are equipped with wooden or rubber 'emergency' scabbards. The original contoured hilt evolved into a squared pommel with slab sided grips while scabbards, initially well engineered in blued steel were by the wars end being manufactured from wood, string, bamboo and poor quality alloys. This bayonet is an example of the early war production variants with a curved but angular pommel, truncated quillon and blued fullered blade, fitted with the sought after ‘finial ball nosed’ scabbard. It was manufactured by the well know firm Kabushiki Kaishi (KK) Matsushita Kinzoku (Matsushita Metalworking Corp.) who were tasked with the wartime manufacture of these weapons.
The Japanese were the only nation to fit bayonets to infantry support weapons and the Type 30 Juken was also fitted to the squad light machine guns Type 96 and 99 as well as the Meiji 38 rifle. The markings on this very good Type 30 are clearly visible, with the KK Matsushita Kinzoku mark, of an ‘Arrowed M’, on the obverse ricasso, indicating that this bayonet was manufactured by the wartime sub-contractor under the supervision of Nagoya Army Arsenal. The bayonet is the serial numbered on the base of the pommel although only the last five numbers (…47150) are now visible. The hilt, with its hardwood grips is in very good condition while the fullered and edged blued steel 15.75 inch blade is good with some patination on both sides particularly towards the tip. The early production scabbard is in similarly good patinated condition, retaining some of its blued finish and is the derivative produced with a ‘ball nosed’ finial. Variation D bayonets from this manufacturer with this style of marking are thought to have been produced between 1943 and 1944 (see pictures).
Interestingly, photographs of Japanese Soldiers serving with 15th and 31st Divisions at Imphal and Kohima show many of the troops equipped with this version of wartime produced Type 30. It also appears to have been widely issued to troops of Japanese 20th and 51st Divisions fighting in New Guinea in 1943 and 1944 as many photographs from that campaign show Japanese Infantry equipped with this pattern of bayonet. During WW2, these bayonets were highly sought after by Australian, US and British troops as battlefield souvenirs and most of those that survived did so as momentoes of the conflict.
For reference, I’ve attached a couple of pictures of similar bayonets in use. The first is interesting because it shows a Variation D Type 30 bayonet, very similar to the listed example, being used as what was euphemistically termed a ‘Banzai Stick’. The photo was taken on Saipan in 1944 and shows a US Marine sitting on the mudguard of a jeep examining the weapon. The second image shows a Japanese soldier guarding Dutch merchant seaman captured in the East Indies in 1942. The soldier has a Variation C bayonet fixed to his rifle. The next image shows a Japanese Infantrymen in full kit with a Variation D Arisaka fixed to his rifle. The next photo shows Japanese troops of the 52nd Division handing over their weapons to the 1_10th Gurkha Rifles of 17th Indian Division. The following Image shows Diggers of the 2/24th Battalion AIF posing with captured Japanese weapons and flags in July 1945. The soldier standing at the rear right of the picture is holding a captured Arisaka rifle with a Type 30 Bayonet fixed. The final image, taken in Korea in late 1945, shows a US soldier relieving a Japanese soldier of his bayonet.
These bayonets are scarce in this condition as most are very prone to rust and most surviving examples are heavily marked and the scabbards damaged. The blade on this bayonet is pretty good for an operationally used wartime production bayonet. They were made to fit the Model 1898 Type 30 6.5mm rifle, Meiji 38 rifle, and Type 96 and 99 Light Machine Guns.
This is Variation D, wartime production, 30th year bayonet in very good condition from a sought after maker: steel and wood hilt with a round steel press button and internal spring, two piece hardwood grips, secured by two steel rivets, steel crossguard with muzzle ring and hooked quillon. Single edged fullered steel blade.
Maker: Kabushiki Kaishi (KK) Matsushita Kinzoku (Matsushita Metalworking Corp.)
Overall Length: 510.0 mm
Blade Length: 397.0 mm
Blade Width (at guard): 23.0 mm
Scabbard: Blued steel.
Overall length of scabbard: 415.0 mm
From Australia, a good Type 30 Arisaka Juken, an example of the definitive Second World War Japanese bayonet. In my opinion one of the best value bayonets you can purchase at the moment. It has a good patina and while it has clearly seen use, it's in decent condition. Almost certainly a battlefield souvenir you’d have to go some way to find a better wartime produced example.
POSTAGE: I post worldwide and I don't clip the ticket on shipping, so what you pay is what it costs to ship.
Buyers who are in the US are requested to wait for their invoice before payment is made.
I’m also happy to post to Queensland to buyers I have dealt with in the past or first-time buyers willing to provide proof that they are over 18.