日本帝国の拳铳

[worldoftone]

I seem to remember that some years ago, that there was a group of Japanese that had come to San Francisco to buy back some of the war souvieneers. I understand that they paid some handsom prices to buy them back. I guess who it belonged to help determine the value.

A friend of mine . . . his father had captured a Samurai sword during WWII. They had it here in the States for many, many years. Eventually they got in touch with the original family in Japan that this sword had come from. Evidently some of these swords have been in families for literally 100's of years and are considered serious family heirlooms. As a sign of good will, the two families eventually met and the sword was returned. Both sides now consider themselves as part of the same family now.

- WOT

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by worldoftone

A friend of mine . . . his father had captured a Samurai sword during WWII. They had it here in the States for many, many years. Eventually they got in touch with the original family in Japan that this sword had come from. Evidently some of these swords have been in families for literally 100's of years and are considered serious family heirlooms. As a sign of good will, the two families eventually met and the sword was returned. Both sides now consider themselves as part of the same family now.

- WOT

During the war, the Japanese people were encouraged to donate their family heirloom swords for the war effort. They were shortened (from the grip end) and re-gripped to Army specs, and issued to officers & NCOs. Some of the blades were works of art fashioned by masters in the trade, hundreds of years previously...