Samurai Swords: Evolution and Overview

[mitch96]

6. I had an interesting encounter with the Swords as a theme in Ireland of all places

Many years ago I went to western Ireland with my aging aunt. Her friend invited us and some others to visit her farm just outside of Sligo. One of the people we were with was a philosophy teacher at a local South Florida University.
We went to visit some people and one of them was a pensioner who was retired from the auction house Sotheby's in the UK. As we all got to talking it turns out the Sotheby's person job was to authenticate Japanese swords. The philosophy teacher's job in 1945 post war Japan was to "emasculate" the Japanese officers position by confiscating their swords and any they could find and dumping them 5 miles off shore into the ocean. Needless to say there were some lively conversations THAT nite. The Sotheby's gent was livid at what he heard. Especially after a few rounds of good Irish whiskey!!!
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