Veteran bring-back, rare late-war Japanese Type NCO sword in unissued condition. This example represents the final wartime production variant, identified by the wooden grip with distinctive horizontal machined cuts, which replaced the earlier “pineapple” and aluminum tsuka to conserve strategic metals. The iron tsuba, side-mounted locking latch, and absence of arsenal inspection stamps on the fittings are all hallmarks of the 1944-1945 last-ditch pattern. Manufactured in the closing months of WW2, as Japan prepared the Ketsu-Go defense plan against the anticipated Allied invasion of the home islands. The machine-made blade retains its crisp ridge line and clean original finish. Overall condition is exceptional throughout. A textbook end-of-war NCO sword and a highly desirable variant for any WW2 Japanese militaria collection.