Many historic Japanese swords were lost by the Americans after the war, they were all stockpiled for documentation and were supposed to be returned to particular families, however many troops mailed swords back to the states without them first having been documented or the families of the swords being notified. This is still a sticky topic with Japan as historic swords thought lost that were meant to be returned keep turning up stateside when they were not meant to be there.
Not all swords were family swords. Just like we issue out generic equipment to our soldiers, there were thousands of swords that were made by armory's in feudal japan to equip local lords peasants to fight other families. Family swords were mostly made for the Elite Samurai clans. So there aren't as many of those as people would like to believe. I've seen hundreds of swords with many marks from foundry's in Feudal Japan that made generic swords but they are just as good as family swords. Then there are the generic marks used to create late era WWII swords.
Yeah learning another language is difficult (for most) and the first thing I thought of was: why didn't an auto-correct step in to correct the title? Secondly, always double check who you're learning your other language from because you don't want to learn bad habits. I messed up in an Italian cafe (Italian-speaking only) because I accidentally said something like "give me a damned coffee" instead of "I'd like a coffee" . Something about their culture with phrases [and therefore just *one* word] having a completely different meaning. I learned later from my Italian friend who said "Oh, no, you have to be good friends with the owners first and they'll know what you mean by the phrase 'damned coffee' because firstly you're a loyal customer and secondly they'll know you need it in a rush because you might be running late for something important!" Always find a good, thoughtful, *appropriate* second/other language tutor! :)
I have family from Japan when I see Japanese Swords all I can think about is the family history that particular sword how much it means to that family its different then the German stuff. I know it was war .but that family Sword has been handed down for many generations .my grandfather had some swords and he was able to track down the family's and gave it back to the Japanese Family
It depends. Most experts recommend against trying to return a gunto to a family in Japan unless the sword is really special. I have read where they compared returning a typical gunto to a Japanese family as like bringing a box of Potato Masher grenades to a German family - they might not appreciate a reminder of grandpa's wartime Nazi past. It's possible more harm could be done than good.
Great video! Earned my sub for sure. Ignore all the haters making fun of the ONE error in English... they all are jealous that they don’t know two languages like you! :)
I've got 21k to spend, I can either have an perfect condition samurai katana from 13th century with a story and papers, or a nazi flag.... Pretty easy decision lmao.
Who is this guy Bill.. don’t you have any more information about him like maybe a website or how to get in contact with him if someone wanted to purchase some of the stuff he has without having to go to the show..???
@@rifekimler3309 Haha, show me a legitimate dictionary from the south with the word "brang" in it and I'll let your comment slide... ;) I live in Australia, I've heard everything from "bringed" to "brung" . So sad when kids don't give a sh&@ in school.
That islamic sword is a Pala, it has t spine, kiljic means sword. Pala is type of sword like that with strong curve thin blade reinforced with t spine, so one could easyili cut thru many silk layers of cloathing. It is not memeluke type, memeluke is diferent type. It is very nice, but it has ben damaged at crossguard. Do you remember what was it price??
Just do a Google search and locate a forum that will translate the signature for you. Take as picture of the signature and post and someone will translate and give you some information on it.
It was good to know that the British were decent. Paul Williams, it's too early to be surprised by the trophy sword. The American soldiers brought back more than just the flags or swords that the dead Japanese soldiers had. Not only did they pull out the gold teeth of dead Japanese soldiers, but they also cut their heads, boiled their heads and made large quantities of skeletonized ones, sold them on the battlefield for $ 35, and many soldiers brought them back as souvenirs. They are called "Trophy Skulls", still go around or have been hided and forgotten in the United States. And even now, they don't even think they're doing anything wrong with these things.
Hey wientzer that is German, can you speak German? He speaks Russian, and pretty good English, what's your second language?Or you just needed to feel like Enstien
The Japanese sword blade shown here is a replica - they would never remove the makers signature from an antique sword blade. Any time an antique sword is sent to Japan for sharpening, the original blade is kept and a replacement blade is sent back. This is because, as far as the Japanese are concerned, the blade belongs to the family and is returned to them.
@@Bill-wm7tt you should have your own channel. Just showing your stuff, and explaining the details of it. Fascinating stuff, and you're a great presenter. The other video I've seen of you showing a few of your swords was incredibly informative.
That sword's length was not that long as he states, you can already see the tapper starting to narrow and no Japanese sword maker would thin out the tang like that for a sword that was to be used in combat. It's a great story.