The term gunto (kanji: 軍刀) means "(modern) saber" in English. It is written ぐんとう in hiragana. It may also be rendered in English as guntō or guntou. It's pronounced roughly like "goon-toe".
The gunto was the katanaKATANA 刀 "sword" learn more... (刀, to) used by the Japanese military (軍, gun, means military) from the time of the Meiji Restoration. The grip is one area that resembles the katana less and the European saber more. Among the other differences between gunto and katana is that the gunto was cheaply produced (if no less lovely and collectible to many enthusiasts nowadays).