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May 1945 dated

Michaelr

By Michaelr
in Military Swords of Japan

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Michaelr Proficient

Michaelr

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I will try and get some pictures tonight. The blade is in shirasaya. Every sword has a story as does this one. My cousin was a officer  in the navy at the beginning of the Vietnam war and stationed in Japan. He told me that he went into a small shop and saw the sword standing in the corner. The man and woman shop owner didn’t speak much English so their son did most of the talking. The woman said that her brother was a guard in the factory and brought the sword home and gave it to her, two days later the factory was bombed and her brother was killed.  The woman didn’t want to sell it but after much talking to her husband and son finally agreed to sell it with a promise from my cousin that it had to be kept in the family. Also included in the sale was the original registration paper that they never turned in and because my cousin brought it back to the ship he never turned the paper in. Like I said every blade has a story and this is mine. I will post some pictures and hope you enjoy 

   Thanks. MikeR

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francois2605 Proficient

francois2605

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7 hours ago, Michaelr said:

I have a Nagamitsu sword dated May 1945 and was wondering how rare/ unusual it is to have a blade dated May 1945 since WW2 ended in May 45. Just thought this was interesting.  Thank you in advance.   MikeR

 

Well... the WW2 ended in May 1945 in Europe, not in Asia. Your sword was crafted 3 months before the end of the WW2 which happened on Sept, 2nd in Japan.

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Kolekt-To Proficient

Kolekt-To

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5 hours ago, francois2605 said:

 

Well... the WW2 ended in May 1945 in Europe, not in Asia. Your sword was crafted 3 months before the end of the WW2 which happened on Sept, 2nd in Japan.

And May 1st 1945 was the beginning of Operation Oboe where the Australians landed at Tarakan and began the Borneo campaign - the last major operation of the war in the Southwest Pacific. One of the photos of the campaign that I saw today featured an Australian Infantry officer showing off a Kai Gunto battle souvenir to a group of his men. 

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DRDave Rising Star

DRDave

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On 2/18/2022 at 1:42 PM, Michaelr said:

I will try and get some pictures tonight. The blade is in shirasaya. Every sword has a story as does this one. My cousin was a officer  in the navy at the beginning of the Vietnam war and stationed in Japan. He told me that he went into a small shop and saw the sword standing in the corner. The man and woman shop owner didn’t speak much English so their son did most of the talking. The woman said that her brother was a guard in the factory and brought the sword home and gave it to her, two days later the factory was bombed and her brother was killed.  The woman didn’t want to sell it but after much talking to her husband and son finally agreed to sell it with a promise from my cousin that it had to be kept in the family. Also included in the sale was the original registration paper that they never turned in and because my cousin brought it back to the ship he never turned the paper in. Like I said every blade has a story and this is mine. I will post some pictures and hope you enjoy 

   Thanks. MikeR


Terrific story, and the 1951 registration paper is fantastic!  Congrats on that one! :thumbsup:

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