Japanese WWII Side Knives?

laEspadaAncha · 13th December 2010, 11:21 PM

I recently acquired these from the estate of a deceased WWII vet. His widow said he brought these back from Japan, where he had served as part of the occupation force.

Does anybody here have any exposure to these single-bevel Japanese "theater" knives?

My understanding is these were purely utilitarian in purpose, though the spear point example does seem as if it would be rather functional as a fighting knife as well. The non-beveled reverse has a slight hollow grind (concave surface), and it measures over 3mm in thickness (the tanto-tipped knife measures approx. 3 1/2 mm) - on par with other contemporary side knives carried by both Axis and Allied soldiers as well as many of the hunting knives I have. Some cursory research returned several forms of Japanese single-bevel knives used in food preparation, though these don't seem to "neatly" fit into any described types (at least based on blade profile). Could the larger of the two be considered a katakiri-ha tanto?

I'm growing fond of these quickly. I'm so used to seeing katanas, waki's, tantos, and military pattern knives that it's refreshing to come across what appear to be "everyman" knives of Japanese origin.

13th December 2010, 11:21 PM	#1
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Japanese WWII Side Knives? I recently acquired these from the estate of a deceased WWII vet. His widow said he brought these back from Japan, where he had served as part of the occupation force. Does anybody here have any exposure to these single-bevel Japanese "theater" knives? My understanding is these were purely utilitarian in purpose, though the spear point example does seem as if it would be rather functional as a fighting knife as well. The non-beveled reverse has a slight hollow grind (concave surface), and it measures over 3mm in thickness (the tanto-tipped knife measures approx. 3 1/2 mm) - on par with other contemporary side knives carried by both Axis and Allied soldiers as well as many of the hunting knives I have. Some cursory research returned several forms of Japanese single-bevel knives used in food preparation, though these don't seem to "neatly" fit into any described types (at least based on blade profile). Could the larger of the two be considered a katakiri-ha tanto? I'm growing fond of these quickly. I'm so used to seeing katanas, waki's, tantos, and military pattern knives that it's refreshing to come across what appear to be "everyman" knives of Japanese origin.