WW2 Japanese Naval Type 30 Early Hook Guard Rocking Star Bayonet with Scabbard

This is a very rare Japanese navy rocking star type 30 bayonet. These were reportedly made at the Kure naval arsenal.

This particular bayonet is an early example, pre 1941, with a hooked guard and a blade that was left unblued, in the white.

These bayonets were not serialized.

This type of bayonet was issued with all Japanese Arisaka rifles during World War II, regardless of caliber.

The way in which these bayonets were manufactured changed dramatically during the course of the war.

The blades on all early bayonets were left in the white, meaning they were not blued.  This practice was later changed in favor of a blued, less reflective, blade during the war.

All Japanese bayonets made before May 27, 1940 had a hooked cross guard.

After that, in order to conserve metal, the hook guard was eliminated in favor of a straight cross-guard. Some early straight guard bayonets had blades left unblued. Later all blades were blued.