Yes, many swords were produced during the war period of much lower quality than their traditional counterparts. Commonly these swords are referred to as "gunto" and "showato," but these names are broad and cover more than just the low quality pieces. Showato means a sword made during the Showa period, and gunto means a sword for military and is more applicable to the distinct mountings used.
Often if you hear "Showato" or "Gunto" you will be dealing with a war/military mounted sword of that specific period. Usually, these are the lower quality ones unfortunately. More unfortunate however is that many people dismiss any blade in gunto mountings as low-grade and ignore the exceptions. Many men used family blades or higher end pieces. While most of the swords were produced through the factories, the handmade ones were still around. Typically, if you hear reference to a handmade traditional sword made around this time, it's called "gendaito." Like with the other terms, it is just a general term, not to be taken 100% accurate. Not every sword called gendaito is high quality hand made during the war period. It's just not that simple.
To reiterate, yes a lot of crap was churned out, but not everything from that time should be dismissed as crap. Judge the blade for what it is first, then look at all the other factors. The blade's quality is the most important.
