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I would like some info on a sword my father left me.

mhawg

後輩
18 Apr 2009
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I haven't been here long enough to post images but I have many images concerning this sword on bladeforums.com Sword Discussion forum in the thread 'Info on WWII Japanese sword' and one member suggested that I might find some answers here also. Any information will be appreciated. I look forward to learning more from this forum. Thanks.
 
I doubt that you would find much information here. But if you actually want to give it a shot, it could be useful to point the readers towards the pictures and description somehow. :D
 
I doubt that you would find much information here. But if you actually want to give it a shot, it could be useful to point the readers towards the pictures and description somehow. :D
I guess I'll have to wait until I have 25 posts so I can enter a link to my thread. Otherwise you can go to; bladeforums.com and enter the 'Sword Discussion' forum and click on the thread 'Info on WWII Japanese sword'.
 
Can you either attach the link to your profile or make it not a hot link, so we'll have to copy and paste...all in the cause of frustrating spammers ! :D
 
Thank you, hideaway, for posting that link.

One the bladeforums members interpreted the markings on the nakago as;
Takayama To Masahiro kore saku
Made by Masahiro (at) the Takayama Sword (factory)
Not a traditionally made nihon-to. Western steel and oil quenched.....Naval Officer's mounts.....
I found some info in the Nihonto Message Board;
Hattori Masahiro opened a forge at the Takayama prison in Hida
province and used prisoners as students and for polishing in a manner similar to the system set up by Chounsai Emura (Nagamitsu) in Okayama prison.
 
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I'm no expert at swords, so what I write here is just what I found on the Web.

Basically, there are 2 sites that specifically write about Takayama-tou:

http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~j-gunto/gunto_127.htm

http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_121.htm

What the two websites agree on is that Takayama-tou is a WWII sword created specifically for use by Imperial Navy officers and made of stainless steel (18% chromium, etc.) to fight saltwater corrosion. The name does not come from some forge but the name of its inventor, a martial arts expert at the Japanese naval academy who is referred to as 高山範士 (could be his full name or just means "Master Takayama"?) in one and 高山政吉 (Takayama Masayoshi/Masakichi etc.) in the other.

The swords were made chiefly in Seki, Gifu Prefecture (known as the center of swordmaking) and either refined at Seki or sent to refinery at Naval Machine Works in Toyokawa (Aichi Prefecture) or in Kamakura (Kanagawa Prefecture). In Seki, the swords were simply made into basic blade form by machinery. The name engraved into the sword is very possibly the name of the final polisher. There is no mention of "prisoners" being employed for refining, only "polishers" who were drafted into the armed forces to cater to military needs.

The quality of the Takayama-tou varied widely. This sword was also used by some Imperial Army officers.

Hope it helps! 😌
 
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