Presented by Samurai Gallery at The Sydney Fair is an exceptionally rare Japanese Katana carrying extraordinary Royal, military and diplomatic history.
This important sword was specially commissioned for His Royal Highness Edward VIII during his official Royal visit to Japan in 1922, when he was still Prince of Wales. The future King would later become one of the most famous figures in British Royal history after abdicating the throne in 1936 in order to marry Wallis Simpson.
The presentation took place during the height of the Anglo–Japanese Alliance, a period often regarded as the golden age of diplomatic and naval cooperation between Great Britain and Imperial Japan. The Prince’s tour followed the earlier visit of Crown Prince Hirohito to Britain and included military reviews, naval ceremonies and formal diplomatic presentations across Japan.
One of the most significant destinations on the Royal tour was Kure Naval Port in Hiroshima Prefecture, then the centre of Imperial Japan’s naval power and one of its most important military shipyards. It was here that this remarkable Katana was respectfully presented, with the dedication on the tang preserving the event in extraordinary detail.
The sword was forged by Hiraga Morikuni, an accomplished swordsmith and writer born in Kure City. Morikuni is remembered not only for his blades but also for authoring the 1935 treatise The State and the Sword, reflecting the importance of the Japanese sword within national identity and military culture. He studied under Yokoyama Sukekane and later became master to the highly respected Osafune smith Imai Toshimitsu, who achieved Mukansa status and recognition as an Intangible Cultural Property of Okayama Prefecture.
Surviving today with NBTHK Hozon certification from the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo, this is far more than a Japanese sword. It is an extraordinary surviving artifact of Royal history, diplomacy and twentieth century international relations.
