Views : 192,960
Genre: Education
Date of upload: Feb 14, 2024 ^^
Rating : 4.721 (245/3,265 LTDR)
RYD date created : 2024-04-28T22:05:41.133908Z
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Top Comments of this video!! :3
My grandfather returned from the pacific war with a Japanese sword. He knew nothing about it except his experience in acquiring it.
They were taking the surrender of a combat regiment and it was tense.
They were held on parade under heavy machine guns. The men had already stacked their firearms. All officers and NCOs were ordered to stack their swords which they did reluctantly. When completed, the jerry cans of petrol were brought out and they poured the fuel on the rifles for burning.
During these moments the CO gave the guards permission to take sword souvenirs. Several guards did.
They then brought the fuel to the sword pile.
All hell broke loose. Several Japanese officers broke ranks and ran to the pile demonstrating that they could not burn it.
My grandfather told me they were a whisker away from being shot.
But in the following minutes a few of them approached the CO and prostrated themselves.
In the minutes that followed they were able to explain that it was not correct to burn one of the swords.
The CO asked them to show which one and the thing that stood out to my grandfather, was that the Japanese officer went to the pile and directly removed one sword and laid it at his feet. He knew exactly where it was!
My grandfather studied it and thought it looked very plain, there were other swords more decorative, the blades embellished with symbols etc. But this one had none of it! It even had chip marks along the spine of the blade.
It didnt look special, but the japanese officer fiercely insisted that it could not be burned.
So my grandfather took it under his care to relieve the tension.
He returned home with it and its still sitting in a box somewhere in my sisters attic.
The other swords did get burned though.
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It's ironic that the very fact that it is common knowledge that if the current owner reveals the whereabouts of the sword, he would immediately lose it, without any compensation, might be the very thing that has prevented him from revealing the sword's whereabouts. I know if I had it, and I knew how much it was worth, I would just keep it. Why the heck would anybody agree to give up such a valuable item, for maybe a pat on the back?!? As long as there's no incentive to return it, if it even still exists, it will remain "missing".
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The idea that the Japanese desk clerk would have handed over a priceless Masamune to a clueless American soldier is laughable. Even if he wasnāt a sword expert, every Japanese person to this day knows the name Masamune and would have known about the importance and quite frankly monetary value of such a sword. Let alone the importance of the man turning it in. Thatās assuming that Tokugawa Iemasa even turned in the actual Honjo Masamune and not a cheaper lookalike. From the available records not mentioned in this documentary, it was supposedly housed in rather simple koshirae when surrendered. You would think the most famous sword in Japan would have been kept in a shirasaya, the proper way to store a valuable sword when not on display. Iām not alone in this opinion. For decades thereās been whispers in Japan of it being in the collection of a well known yakuza family. What better way is there to hide a priceless treasure than to have everyone thinking itās on the other side of the world. The Honjo Masamune never left Japan.
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their is a bunch of sword smiths that made great swords. from all around japan and from many eras. masamune swords are a confusing topic as signatures and eras don't tend to line up conveniently. the soshu den has some very important makers as did the bizen den yamashiro den the yamato den the mino den and so on..the edo period also had important schools like the hizen-den and the tadayoshi line. along with a half dozen other schools. i believe that evry once and a while an average smith might find that everything went perfectly with one blade and produce a masterpiece. learning what makes that blade a masterpiece can take a long time of dedicated study to fully understand.
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At the end of the Russo - Japanese War; various members of the Japanese Royal Family gave "TR" several valuable Swords - All MIA. Swords that were given to a Naval JAG - Dale Brandon. Included was a Katana that had belonged to Adm. Yamamoto (circa - 1492) and a couple of Short Swords made from the Gun Barrels which had armed Adm.Toho's Flagship. A Ship which took part in the unprovoked attack on Port Arthur & thr Russian Navy ... They Too are Missing.
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Interesting program, however, it completely disregards the fact that even in Feudal times the Japanese Noble / Samurai class was quite knowledgeable of their treasures. Such highly and skillfully produced handmade objet d'art, were highly prized by the Noble / Samurai classes. So, what did they do to protect them? They made copies to fool the spies!Ā
Our Honjo Masamune may very well be sitting somewhere, on its Kake' (stand) or hidden away in a vault of some museum in Japan, to be seen by appointment only.
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@atagany
2 months ago
As a Japanese, this story was extremely interesting. I was surprised that it plainly tells that Douglas MacArthur became the new shogun, which is the truth people rarely mention. And I believe the U.S. has been the shogun in the Japanese psyche since the WWII. Just like the hope diamond goes to the most powerful in the world, the honjo masamune is the symbol of the conquerer of Japan. The experts in the video are very knowledgeable. I enjoyed it. Thank you.
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