Photos, piles of swords at beginning of occupation

[fjohns]

Anyone have a source, or pictures of, the piles of Japanese swords that were collected

for destruction at the beginning of the occupation? An online source would be great.

 

Thank you, fj

[bdgrange]

No pictures but...

Happened to be reading about this very subject last night in Leon Kaps book:Modern Japanese swords...pg 74 and 75. paraphrased from this:

Confiscated swords were in the Akabane Arsenal in 1945, shows pic. of a huge stack. Gen'l McArthurs headquarters authorized an evaluation committee to asses the confiscated swords in the Tokyo area, which were in the Akabane Arsenal. This was accomplished through the efforts of Col. Cadwell and Honma Kunzan and Sato Kanzan. After setting up the special committee and even while all of this was being done the army continued to give away swords to any occupation forces member who requested one. Each judge was paid seventy sen per day (equal to a Coke). Many of the confiscated swords in Akabane were destroyed although 4,575 of these blades were eventually selected by the committee and preserved in the Tokyo National Museum. These were only recently examined and restored after resting for some fifty years in the basement. In 1995 the diet had ordered that the swords be returned to their owners. An exhibit of these Akabane swords took place in April 2000. Earlier due to all of this the NBTHk was formed. with Honma the first chairman.

 

On another note my understanding is that the sword world has lost another great student Herman Walenga. I just re-read his treatise on the Minatogawa jinja published by the JSSUS. He did leave the world a little richer by publishing this and other articles in the JSSUS.

[Bungo]

check the OLD issue of National Geographic magazine.........there's an article with pics of warehouse full of swords, a sargent ( feldwebel ? ) was holding a BIG sword in shira saya grinning like a cat in heat.........no, he didn't get to keep the sword.

 

milt THE ronin

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

I'm t work now. i've that picture and a couple othes. Please wait till this evening and I'll provide them.

Be prepaerd , they are very sad.

[Mark C]

Hi fj,

 

There is some pictures in Fuller and Gregorys two books, 'Military swords of Japan 1868-1945' and 'Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks'

 

They are the same pictures as Bungo diacribes.

 

Hope this helps

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

What I've found in my HD.

Here the mass-produced ShinGunto were made :

 

 

and assembled :

 

 

 

Celebrating Victory :

 

 

Ancient treasures together with junk ones :

 

 

bigger is better :

 

 

their final fate :

 

[fjohns]

To all who responded, many thanks.

 

I have checked the Kap's book and find it is available at the library.

 

Milt,

I tried to find Nat. Geo, online but found many articles other than those with confiscated swords. Any date or article title would help if you know.

 

"Zeit und Raum. . . ." Gel! fj

 

Mark,

Getting the books from the library. Thanks. I saw pictures thirty years ago and thought I might be able to use the same images.

 

Carlo,

You are about four hours from a lovely area. The Dolomites. Enjoyed the landscape so many years ago for about three weeks.

 

You are right, the sword pics are sad. The pictures I saw did not have idiots in them, only stacks of confiscated and very interesting looking swords. Families in the outlying areas buried their swords for quite a period of time so as not to lose them.

But, I am sure you know this.

 

Seeing these pics brings to mind a few more questions, rather insignificant I imagine. But I'll ask under a new query.

 

Thanks again, fj

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Hi fj.

Yes, Dolomites are my preferred winter-holydays site.

Summer is devoted to the desires of the real King of the House, my wife... :lol: cheers.

 

Carlo

[Bungo]

Hi fj.

Yes, Dolomites are my preferred winter-holydays site.

:lol: cheers.

 

Carlo

 

El Duce too..............

 

Milt THE ronin

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

To be honest, my family was royalist rather then fascist, and suffered for this...