Japanese Army Shin-gunto Sword and Scabbard : Lieutenant General Adachi, Commander of the XVIII Japanese Army Accession Number: RELAWM31261

Description

Japanese Shin-gunto Army officer's sword and scabbard. The hilt has the standard army style gilded brass shin-gunto fittings with cherry blossom menuki on each side of the handle under the brown binding and a scabbard button catch on the fuchi (collar). The pierced tsuba (guard) is rectangular in shape with cherry blossom motifs in the corners and has two spacer plates - one gilt and one silvered with a serrated edge on each side. The kabuto-gane (pommel) is complete with a sarute (loop) and a brown/red cord tassel with a gold zig zag pattern.

The single edged blade has a harmon temper line that is virtually straight. The tang, with a single peg hole is unsigned. A copper habaki (collar) is attached to the blade. The brown painted wooden scabbard, has shin-gunto mountings to match the hilt and a single strap hangar with a loose ring 80 mm from the throat. It is contained in a brown leather cover that has a reinforced shoe and press studs at the throat that fit around the hanger strap.

Contextual Description

This sword was surrendered by Lieutenant General Adachi, Commander of the Japanese XVIII Army, to Major General H C H Robertson, General Officer Commanding the Australian 6th Division, at Cape Wom near Wewak, New Guinea, on 13 September 1945. The official history states that "on 11th September Adachi with some staff officers arrived in the area of the 2/7th Battalion at Kiarivu, and on the 13th he, an interpreter and three officers were flown from Hayfield to Wewak where, on Wom airstrip at 10 a.m., Adachi signed the surrender and handed over his sword in the presence of 3,000 troops drawn from various units of the division". (Long, G., 1963, The Final Campaigns, page 559)