WW2 Japanese Army Officer Sword Shin Gunto is a popular collectors Japanese WW2 sword.
Did Japanese army officers carry swords in WW II?
Yes, before the war started, all Japanese army officers were required to carry a sword. In those days a great deal of these Japanese swords were cheaply mass produced in ways which did not uphold Japanese traditional ways of crafting a sword. Japanese swords are more than merely a traditional fighting weapon. The surrender of the Japanese in the Second World War carried a huge emotional weight.
WW2 Japanese Officer Sword for Sale
Japanese swords and warriors are closely associated with Shinto in the culture of the Japanese. Shinto means “the way of the gods” – all elements of the world are embedded with god like spirits. Shinto validates self purification, ancestral worship, nature worship and imperial divinity. Some say that swords are an important source of wisdom and “emanate energy” to inspire the wielder. The Shintoism shaped the progress of Japanese expansionism and international affairs. So the sword become a mechanism for change.
WW2 JAPANESE NAVY OFFICERS SWORDS IN STOCK
Under the United States occupation at the end of World War II all armed forces in occupied Japan were disbanded and production of Japanese swords with edges was banned except under police or government permit. The ban was overturned through a personal appeal by Dr. Junji Honma. During a meeting with General Douglas MacArthur, Honma produced blades from the various periods of Japanese history and MacArthur was able to identify very quickly what blades held artistic merit and which could be considered purely weapons. As a result of this meeting, the ban was amended so that guntō weapons would be destroyed while swords of artistic merit could be owned and preserved. Even so, many Japanese swords were sold to American soldiers at a bargain price; in 1958 there were more Japanese swords in America than in Japan. The vast majority of these one million or more swords were guntō, but there were still a sizable number of older swords.
WW2 Japanese Army Officer Sword Shin Gunto
WW2 JAPANESE NAVY OFFICERS SWORDS
Last Updated on November 24, 2022