THE PRESENTATION OF A SAMURAI SWORD

[Stephen]

Before Sir Ian posted on another thread I was doing a search of Presentation swords.

I ran across this, some may find it a bit long but I found it a nice mid afternoon read. brings to question what became of the sword, what was the sword, that and one member of the party went on to be President of the States made it interesting to me. be sure to click on the link for the pix, and to wonder just a few years later how they must have felt about that day.

 

http://manjiro1.tripod.com/sword1918.htm

[b.hennick]

Great read! Thanks Stephen. It left a big smile on my face. :D

[outlier48]

Thanks, Stephen, quite interesting!

 

It seems the original sword was stolen in 1977. The city was given a replacement sword. This link may be of interest:

 

http://www.millicentlibrary.org/forms/M ... t_Tour.pdf

 

Charlie Brashear

[Stephen]

Thanks, Stephen, quite interesting!

 

It seems the original sword was stolen in 1977. The city was given a replacement sword. This link may be of interest:

 

http://www.millicentlibrary.org/forms/M ... t_Tour.pdf

 

Charlie Brashear

 

 

nice search Charlie, takiing off part of the link gives us more on the City and John Manjiro, too bad about the sword guess my last three letters to the town was in vain, should have checked here first. lol

 

http://manjiro1.tripod.com/

[Goldy]

Now that is a speech by Viscount Ishii!! What a great story.

 

Thanks Stephen.

[outlier48]

As a side note, this has an interesting tie into to this year's "Taiga Drama", but I doubt it will make more than a passing mention, even though John Manjiro clearly influenced some of the "key players" who also played an important part in the opening of Japan to the rest of the world.

 

Charlie Brashear

[Jean]

Stephen

[IanB]

Stephen, Brilliant!!

Perhaps what delighted me most was to see that the Sandwich Islands were called by their proper name (named by Cook after the 4th Earl) at such a late date.

Ian

[leo]

An entertaining and touching story, Stephen, thank you.

 

Peaceful individuals toil hard to establish relationships between nations, but land and power hungry politicians eventually spoil it all. That is the sad story behind it and it goes on all over the world to this very day!

Something to think about.

 

Regards to all,

Martin

[Stephen]

From Fairhaven

 

Good morning Stephen,

 

The sword presented to the town by Ambassador Ishii on behalf of Manjiro's son, Dr. Toichiro Nakahama, on July 4, 1918, was stolen from its display case in the Millicent Library in September of 1977, during regular library hours. It has never been recovered, though from time to time the library has been contacted by investigators when stolen swords are found.

 

A replacement sword is now on display in a more place.

 

Some interesting notes on Manjiro are that he is credited with introducing both the necktie and the sewing machine to Japan and he appears as a character in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Pacific Overtures."

 

The current Emperor of Japan visited Fairhaven in 1987 with his wife. He was Crown Prince at the time.

 

Fairhaven see many Japanese visitors each year because of the Manjiro story.

 

Christopher J. Richard,

Director of Tourism,

Fairhaven, MA

[leo]

An interesting letter. What is really strange and makes me a little thoughtful though, is the fact that the identity of the stolen sword is not revealed. Nobody can convince me that the sword was presented to the Library without documentation.

 

As a long time collector and dealer I know by personal experience, how valuable for successful recovery it can prove, if the sword`s identity is made public. If somebody is not willing to do it, there must be a very special reason. Even if the sword is of immense value, some time has passed since 1977 and eventually time will come for it to find its way to another collection or into commerce.

 

Off course I might be mistaken or the sword is a mumei blade of no importance. Then it would be difficult to trace it.

 

Martin

[Curran]

Great story to read this morning.

 

I too was surprised they give out no details of the sword: smith or measurements. Giving the timing of the theft- if it was of value and genuine, there is a fair chance it is back in Japan now. Still, in the age of computers one would think the sharing of any remaining record of the sword (oshigata or record of the nakago) would dramatically improve the chances of it being found.

 

Forgive this cross topic recommendation:

If anyone would enjoy stories of 1830s /1840s navigation, Massachusetts, Sandwich Islanders, California pre-gold rush, and whaling: I recommend "2 Years before the Mast" by Richard H. Dana. I read this book on a foreign beach long ago, and it left a lasting impression on me. Manjiro's story reminded me of it.