Im seeking any advice I can re a sword my Grandad owns. I took some pics of it (Taken on a Samsung Pixon, Samung D900i and an Iphone, so shyte pics ) and have emailed them to some American sword sites, but I would prefer to find someone in the UK who knows what they are talking about.

My Grandad told me his story: Once the war (WWII) had finished he and a few others were with Japanese soldiers. They were asked if they wanted a "Souvenere" and my Grandad picked up this sword. Others picked up different items. My Grandad's had this since the 1940's and has hung on his wall all my life. He wants to translate the signiture on the tang, which Ive found a site with loads of markings. I will take it with me next time I see my Grandad (along with a better camera) and hopefully answer his questions on who made the sword, etc.

I said to him that I really liked his sword and he said "I was going to throw it away" and "You can have it", to which I declined and said I will have it if one day he decides to give it to me (I would rather have him give it to me later in life for more sentimental value). If I took it now I would feel I have stolen it from him as he has had it so long. He didn't think anyone would be interested in it, but I explained most people would sell it as soon as they got it, but I would like it to hand down to my son when I get old. He was quite chuffed tbh

Anyone know any info that may help me?

Pics:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/07...muari%20Sword/

 

Its not a genuine Hattori Hanzo is it,lol??

I know bugger all about about them but just like em as....ornaments. Gotta get my hands on a demon hanzo and a musashi brides revenge for the collection.....signed ofcourse.

 

I've got a samurai sword in my front room on the wall - big fucker too. Know absolutely NOTHING about it at all, or them in general, but I liked it so it went up !

 

theres a auction by us that sells cars,plants,furniture,bailiff repo's,basically anything legal,they had 2 well tasty jap swords and somehow trading standards got wind,the papers,then the rozzers got involved and it was them that entered the swords as police stolen recovered seized items.
how the fook that works out but the swords were removed from sale so i dunno even if they are legal anymore ?

 

Oh they are an illegal weapon so I'm led to believe....but that ain't going to stop me having one.

 

hi dont know much about swords,but i heard that some samurai swords from wwII are worth a lot owing to the fact that some swords were made by master sword makers,the swords take months and months to make because they are folded so many times.
these swords are nothing like the costume swords you get now,they have been handed down for so many generations that there worth has been forgotten.
not sure how you tell if your grandad's sword is one of the forgotten master's swords,sure someone(sword expert)can help.
just be careful because some of said swords are worth a small fortune.DON'T GET RIPPED OFF.SERIOUSLY
just because the sword's sheaf isnt fancie,dont mean nothing.cheers hope this helps!!!!

 

If the police ever did raid your house just tell them its a japanese steak knife but it doesnt fit in the kitchen drawer,lol.
Think your alright having one in the house.....its a public place where your not allowed anything over a 3" blade/folding type.

 

quality

 

theres a shop next to conwy castle that sells full on mental swords and real armour lol, they have loads of them in there aswell as big claymores and blades sword, dunno about that sword though, go find a japanese person lol

 

the whole tradition intrigues me tbh.love these swords.so much work used to go into making them

 

You watch too much Kill Bill

Thanks for the advice mate I wouldn't sell it unless I was really desperate anyway. From what I can gather this sword was a machine made item, but it has marks which say it is hand made. Hopefully translating the signiture will give us more info



They are illegal unless you are a collector. To have a genuine japanese sword should deem as being a collector (As worth a bit of money) or the fact it has been handed down in the family. You cannot buy, rent, import or carry a sword in the public streets AFAIK

 

Cheers mate, will look em up

Will also look up "Japanese Mail Order Bride" as I don't know another way of tracking down someone Japanese

 

i'll see if my mate tak can translate it

not only is he in japan, he's Japanese so can read their lingo

 

Dojj, thanks mate Im getting better pics on Sunday if you need them

 

It isnt illegal to own a sword. Do a quick search on google lol

 

all swords were supposedly seized at the end of the war from the japanese,
some as stated are worth a small fortune.. some are just mass produced military ones.
http://www.japanesekatana.com/
might be able to help if you can send em a decent hi res pic lol... could you put some paper over the lettering and do a rubbing or summit to help bring out the lettering ?
http://www.samuraisword.com/eval/othermethod.htm

be interesting to know...

 

Thanks Eagle, have a noey on there and will go through when I get more time

I believe this is the same as my Grandad's, but till I see it again I won't be sure.

http://www.quanonline.com/military/m...e/sword_20.php

 

the tip of your sword is different is it not?

 

i remember my grandad had sword's,rifles and hand gun's.
he had brought them back from ww2,he was a tank commander,he died when i was young,dont know what happened to them my nan probally threw them out,i remember because i was interested aswell and my grandad kept pulling thing's out from under the sofa,that was untill my nan came in the room and told him off lol.............id try a big aution house,they would be able to point you in the direction of a expert.

 

I have one signed by Randy Jackson from american idol

 

I don't know much or in fact anything about them either but i do like them from an aesthetic point

Dan

 

Been into these since I was a tiny kid, my old man has practiced for years in Iaido, I wont disclose how many we have but its more than 20 men could hold at once lol.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, its not illegal to own them, it IS illegal to buy, sell, or trade in them, unless you are licenced to do so.
And its entirely correct that the vast majority were mass produced military side arms, most soldiers had these issued as commonly as boots, but if you were lucky enough to take out a top brass, theres a good chance it could be a very geniune antique, depending how important the fella determines the age of the sword.
Would get it checked (discreetly) by an expert in oriental military arms myself.
Prepare to find its not worth much, although considering the circumstances it was obtained I would debate that be it mass produced or otherwise, but it just might be worth a small fortune.
As a for instance, a modern day katana, produced in traditional methods, start at around 10k, and thats IF you can get your hands on one.
Make no mistake, swords with history can fetch serious spends, lottery win scale.

 

It's valuable - keep it.

Someone recently sold it at auction for £5k! Trying to find the news link...

Edit

Found it

http://www.wymondhamandattleboroughm...A51%3A19%3A113

http://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.u...A16%3A07%3A217

 

vince macmahon lives in norfolk?!?!?!?!