Japanese Sword Fragments - c. 1850's to early 1900's - Late Edo to Meiji Era

 These cut pieces of Japanese swords date back to the late Edo to Meiji era, or around the mid 1800's to early 1900's. Japan had just come out of a two and a half century long period of isolation, and was quickly modernizing to compete on the world stage. Though the samurai class was practically abolished in the 1870's, swords remained an important part of Japanese society. Historically, samurai would carry at least two swords: the katana, a longsword, and the wakizashi, a shortsword. The swords you see here were not cut apart by us here at History Hoard! They were most likely destroyed after Japan passed strict weapon laws in the 1950's. Under the new law, all mass produced swords were banned and traditionally crafted swords became highly regulated. People who owned antique swords were required to obtain a permit in order to keep them, a costly and time consuming process. Unfortunately this drove many people to cut their swords' blades down to less than 15 centimeters long, which made