Swords of Imperial Japan , 1868 - 1945

Happy to help. One more detail about openwork vs solid. From Richard Fuller & Ron Gregory, Military swords of Japan 1868-1945, Arms and Armour Press, 1986: The guard may be solid or pierced, the latter rumoured to have been initially restricted to senior officers. This is Fuller & Gregory's short book: https://archive.org/details/militaryswordsof0000full Their longer book, Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks, has more detail, but more copy isn't with me at the moment: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1853107158/ Also good (and it's where I learned about the marshal's swords) is Jim Dawson, Swords of Imperial Japan 1868-1945, Stenger-Scott, 2007: https://www.amazon.com/Swords-Imperial-Japan-1868-1945/dp/0971912726/