Honjo Masamune sword vanishes after surrender to US occupation forces in Japan. The Honjo Masamune was forged roughly 700 years earlier by Goro Nudo Masamune, considered the greatest swordsmith in Japanese history Masamune worked during the late 1200s, layering different steels to create blades that were both strong and flexible The sword got its name from a 1561 battle when samurai Hanjo Shiganaga was struck in the head but survived
The Honjo Masamune — a 700-year-old blade by Japan's greatest swordsmith, declared a national treasure in 1939 — was surrendered to police in Dec 1945, then transferred to a 'Sergeant Coli Bmore' with no military record. The world's most important missing sword.
Key Facts
- The Honjo Masamune was forged roughly 700 years earlier by Goro Nudo Masamune, considered the greatest swordsmith in Japanese history
- Masamune worked during the late 1200s, layering different steels to create blades that were both strong and flexible
- The sword got its name from a 1561 battle when samurai Hanjo Shiganaga was struck in the head but survived
- The blade passed through powerful warlords and eventually to the Tokugawa family, which ruled Japan for over 250 years
- The Japanese government officially declared it a national treasure in 1939
- After Japan's surrender in 1945, Allied authorities confiscated roughly 81,000 firearms, 172,000 swords, and 14,000 spears within the first 6 months
- Tokugawa Yamasa, head of the Tokugawa family, voluntarily surrendered the blade in December 1945 at a Tokyo police station
- The sword was transferred to someone recorded as Sergeant Coli Bmore, but no US military records contain that name
- The Honjo Masamune is considered the most important missing sword in the world; Masamune rarely signed his blades, so it could exist today unidentified
Source: 5 Ancient Artifacts America Raced the Nazis to Find by Dark5 Ancient Mysteries