Japanese Kwaiken?
 

This small knife has been in my collection for some time. I would like when it was likely made and whether it is consistent with known Japanese knives.

n2s

"Welease the Kwaiken" ;)

I don't believe this is a kwaiken - Japanese ladies sleeve tanto. I think it is a WW II officer's dirk; unfortunately in rather poor condition.

Rich S
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Richard Stein, PhD

Japanese Sword Guide
http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm

"Never go anywhere without a knife"
- Leroy Jethro Gibbs
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Rich,

Thanks for the input. I have found remarkably little information on these knives or any other antique Japanese knives online.

n2s

I am familiar with the officer's navy dirks which look very different. Would this have been an Army officer's dirk?

n2s

Yes, most likely an army officer's dirk. See my website for examples:

Japanese Sword Guide
http://japaneseswordindex.com/nihonto.htm

Go to the Japanese military dirks page.

Rich

This type knife is referred to as an "Aikuchi" which is a dagger without a guard. Kwaiken is styled differently, and intended to be carried by women. These are often called "Kamikazi daggers", and are of the style carried by them. Your example is of better quality than most, and may be worthy of a polish. WWII era, or before. The leather cover denotes combat carry. As there was no regulation dagger for army officers, many of these were carried. Lots of these were given to departing soldiers by their mothers, grandmothers, etc. With a whispering in the ear of "Return victorious, or not at all" Nice piece.

Here are some additional photos of the OP knife.

n2s

Ooh, didn't see the pitting in the first photo. No, not a polish candidate. Looks like it bathed in something caustic, and was cleaned up. Still, it is an interesting, and historic piece.

Most likely it was exposed to the warm, humid and salty air in South Florida for too long.

n2s

Fyi, there is not a lot of information available about kwaiken, Wikipedia has an article with all the basic information and references.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiken_(dagger)

A kwaiken is just a small blade in a basic mount with very little or no fittings.

estcrh, that looks like a yari spearpoint mounted as a dagger. what i'd call a tombak/lading terus if it were indonesian. like this:

Yes they are very similar, the mounts are in the kwaiken style, there is no set rule as to the blade type of a kwaiken.