Showa Era katana

Nathal · Apr 4, 2005

Okay, all of you weapons experts out there (if I can't find ancient weapons enthusiasts among D&D players, where can I possibly look?):

My father just found in a garage sale the following:

29-in., hand forged, ,water tempered, Showa Era katana was made in 1935 by Ken Kiyohisa (real name Kakehi Kiyomitsu) in the sword production region of Seki, Japan.

Does anybody here have any idea as to the weapon's value?

Laman Stahros · Apr 4, 2005

If its real (BIG if), it is either worth quite a bit or a war-trophy from WW2. Take it to a trustworthy antiques dealer who specializes in blades, if it is real, then take it to the Japanese Embassy. They are trying to reaquire all war-trophy swords and may buy it from you.

If I remember correctly though, the Showa era was back in the 1800's. So that date for making makes me wonder.

Nathal · Apr 4, 2005

Laman Stahros said:
If its real (BIG if), it is either worth quite a bit or a war-trophy from WW2. Take it to a trustworthy antiques dealer who specializes in blades, if it is real, then take it to the Japanese Embassy. They are trying to reaquire all war-trophy swords and may buy it from you.

If I remember correctly though, the Showa era was back in the 1800's. So that date for making makes me wonder.

There is no chrysanthemum stamped below the hand guard, which would indicate WW II machine made junk issued to Jap officers. According to Wikipedia, the Shōwa period was the time in Japanese history when Emperor Hirohito reigned over the country, from December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989.

I'll have to tell me Dad about the Japanese Embassy.

DungeonmasterCal · Apr 4, 2005

This is what I found on the Showa era:
http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/showato.htm

The father of a girl I used to date many years ago had one of these. I wish-wish-wish I'd stolen it when I had the chance, because he cut it into smaller blades and made a set of steak knives out of it. I hate him.

driver8 · Apr 4, 2005

My uncle before hed passed on was a big sword collector. IIRC the big problem with Showa swords is obviously if they were made traditionally, non traditionally ( and slightly lower quality) or machine pressed.

Given that in 1935 Japan was at war in China, it would depend also if the sword was for military use or not.

And unfortunately I believe its hard to judge based on things like maker or region..a sword would probably have to be inspected to determine its value..based on the steel grain, the quality of the hama- the wavy line near the blade edge of the sword. There should also be a mark of the swords tang too.

Anyway, with the power of the internet there must be a sword collector forum somewheres.

Ankh-Morpork Guard · Apr 4, 2005

Nathal said:
There is no chrysanthemum stamped below the hand guard, which would indicate WW II machine made junk issued to Jap officers.

Near the end of WWII, that symbol was rubbed off of many weapons, so that's not always the best indication of make/etc.

Nathal · Apr 4, 2005

driver8 said:
My uncle before hed passed on was a big sword collector. IIRC the big problem with Showa swords is obviously if they were made traditionally, non traditionally ( and slightly lower quality) or machine pressed.

Given that in 1935 Japan was at war in China, it would depend also if the sword was for military use or not.

And unfortunately I believe its hard to judge based on things like maker or region..a sword would probably have to be inspected to determine its value..based on the steel grain, the quality of the hama- the wavy line near the blade edge of the sword. There should also be a mark of the swords tang too.

Anyway, with the power of the internet there must be a sword collector forum somewheres.

Sure, but I know so many D&D fans who are also sword collectors that I thought I'd post here and see what happens.

driver8 · Apr 4, 2005

Nathal said:
Sure, but I know so many D&D fans who are also sword collectors that I thought I'd post here and see what happens.

True, but like in many others things only peripherally DnD related, youre just as likely to get bad info as well...myself included. Things like samuari swords are often like getting advice on vintages of wine..youd probably need a specilaist opininion

Neat that ya found one at a garage sale. I assume it has no papers of any kind eh?

Nathal · Apr 4, 2005

driver8 said:
True, but like in many others things only peripherally DnD related, youre just as likely to get bad info as well...myself included. Things like samuari swords are often like getting advice on vintages of wine..youd probably need a specilaist opininion

Neat that ya found one at a garage sale. I assume it has no papers of any kind eh?

I don't disagree, but I'll leave it up to my father for serious investigations. I do take most anything with a grain of salt.

Alzrius · Apr 4, 2005

This reminds me of something.

A friend of the family's knew I studied Japanese and asked me to look at this katana she had. She said her father brought it back during WWII, and she wanted to return it to the family. The scabbard was covered in kanji. However, given that they were done in "cursive" style, and were before the post-WWII kanji reforms, I couldn't read it.

Later, when I went to Japan, I got photographs of it and asked some people for help. They were able to determine that the sword had come from a school, and that the many kanji were various names of people who'd used it. However, there were no other references to go on. As such, she still hasn't been able to return it to anyone.