Antiques, Decorative and Fine Arts Auction
Antiques, Decorative and Fine Arts Auction
Lot 88: Japanese Mantetsu Military Sword c. WW2 Made From Railway Tracks
2026-09-26T15:00:00Z
Start price: CAD $500
Lot 88:
Japanese Mantetsu Military Sword c. WW2 Made From Railway Tracks
Description
An historically important military sword.
In 1937, the Japanese war effort required the mass production of military swords, as they represented the samurai tradition that the Imperial Army wished to instill in its soldiers. In occupied Manchuria (Manchukuo), a researcher, Dr. Kusaha Kasuharu, developed a revolutionary steelmaking process that made it possible to create swords from the metal of the Dairen Railway Company’s tracks. The quality was so high that experts mistook the prototype for a sword by the great 16th-century master swordsmith, Tadayoshi. All 7,000 workers at the Mantetsu factory, founded in 1906, were required to pay their respects at a Shinto shrine before beginning their work, to imbue the swords with the divine power of the kami. Mantetsu swords bear the inscription on their silk:
To develop the soul of Asia, Mantetsu undertook this work with respect.
Sword measures 38 inches L, blade measures 27.25 inches with cutting edge measuring 26 inches L.
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