John C

Looting is simply a type of theft and subject to whichever laws are applicable at the time. But I suspect you are correct that MacArthur was being punitive against the Japanese because he knew how much swords were a national identity. John C.

Mike: The arsenal marks are sometimes hard to see under the crossguard. Also, it probably would have had a leather seppa against the crossguard at one point and the hole in the crossguard would have been the rivet point for the leather finger loop, which is often missing. John C.

Since the country is effectively under martial law at that point, the commanding general (by extension from the general staff and president) is the law maker. So as long as there are no human rights violations, he has the right and responsibility to protect his occupying force by disarming the citizens and military. All of these "laws" are a product of "unconditional" surrender. John C.

In the simplest terms, from a US perspective anyway, "spoils of war" is legal because it refers to military use equipment and material from the other side. Looting, the taking of personal property, is illegal and is considered a war crime. So if a sword were carried in battle, then it could be classified as a spoil. But the same sword taken from a home by an occupying force would be considered looting and would be a war crime, under US law. John C.

Dan: While stars have been represented as dots in many forms, the part that has puzzled me are the rice-shaped holes in between the stars. As a wood worker, it reminds me of kumiko, like the sample below. If they do represent constellations, however, there must be more to the story. The shapes seem to be off - but in the same way on each piece. John C.

Space alien sword? Count me in! John C.

A dose of optimism: Maybe he is making swords as replicas for the movie industry. John C.

John: I recently read a twist to this theory; that if a samurai's sword were to come out more than 3 finger widths out of the scabbard, it was considered that he "drew his sword." And in the presence of someone important, that could mean death. Just another reason to tie it down. John C.

Russ: Yes. The habaki is softer material, however that area is so thin it doesn't take much to start to round over that small edge. Think about how we caution against even softer materials like saw dust scratching the blade. The material in conjunction with a bit of rust can cause weakness where it is thin. Another issue, albeit WAY beyond my level of expertise, is the incompatibility of metals when moisture is introduced. I know some metals can react with others causing corrosion and weakness (think galvanized pipes and copper pipes in plumbing). Just another thought as to why that area could wear like that. John C.

Glad to see there was at least one kid (blue shirt, shaggy hair) getting interested. Except for Sam and a few others, it looked like my high school reunion in some of the pics. John C.

Was that you in the obligatory north west beanie cap...in Florida? John C.

Lance: Same assessment. An older blade in need of some love, however it is legit. The red line in the pic is the munemachi-hamachi line I was referenceing. Looks fine. The green circle shows a lot of wear where the habaki contacts the edge. This is a result of age (removing and reinstalling the habaki). So in all, a good sign for legitimacy. John C.

No paint in the numbers suggests it was done post-paint, at any rate. John C.

The detail on the sakura menuki is not there...yet. Hope they don't get there. John C.

Just by the color of the steel, it looks shin-shinto. So I would start with smiths who are fairly modern. John C.

Bushu ju?? John C.

Thanks, Nazar. As a proof of concept, it worked well. John C.

Bruce: Is that same celluloid? If so, I was thinking late war with the wire sarute, however it also has pierced tsuba...what do you think date-wise? John C.

This thread (the part from Steve Waszak) talks a bit about acids and forging techiniques to reach the effect.

Should be no problem, however two cautions: First, it will be a harder wood so If carving by hand, be prepared to sharpen the gouges often. Second, if the tree is still whole, you will need to cut the planks and let them finish drying to avoid movement, shrinkage, and tension release after it is carved to final shape. John C.

Google is incorrect. The tannic acid dissipates over time through off-gassing. While this happens faster with kiln dried wood due to 6% moisture content, the concentration is higher and therefore more deleterious to metal. Personally, I don't worry too much about it. Unless the sword is never cleaned or maintained, it should not be a problem. John C.

The word 'nie' means seeth or boil. If you look at the circled area of the picture I posted, you will see what appears to be something that looks like boiling water. That's nie. And it is a sign of water quenching. The thinner, whiter, cloudy areas are called ko-nie. That means 'small nie'. Technically, they are too small to see with the naked eye, which is why it just looks like a cloudy line. All of the above is created by the martensite crystals as they differentially cool in water. John C.

As others have said, honoki is most common in Japan as it is readily available, light weight, straight grain, and easy to carve. Any wood can be used, as long as it is either low acidic (never use oak, for example) or has been air dried for a few years. Kiln dried wood, which is popular in big-box stores, concentrates the tannic acid and could lead to rust production as it reacts with metal. I tend to use poplar or cherry that has been air dried for 5 years because honoki is virtually impossible to get here. John C.

Lance: Seems legit to me. Not ww2 but older blade. If you could take off the habaki (brass collar) and show that area where the tang meets the blade, it may tell us more (the imaginary line drawn between the edge and back should be perpendicular to the center line of the tang. Chinese copies are usually off-center). John C.

All of the clues are in the pictures, Steve. You can see nie and activity in the hada. The hamon has some life and activity in it. John C.