My Navy Takayama-to

[Bruce Pennington]

Takayama Masayoshi was a Gunzoku Naval officer teaching sword technique at the Naval Academy.  He had studied WWI trench warfare and realized that time was crucial in hand-to-hand combat.  He decided to design his own sword, a bit shorter and heavier with more mass at the tip, with the idea of "one strike, one kill" thus minimizing the time spent with an opponent.  His design can be found in both Army and Navy gunto.  Some are signed as Takayamato, some, like mine, are mumei.  

 

After the war, Takayama fled to the countryside.  He was found guilty of war crimes in absentia and sentenced to 7 years, for experimenting with his One Strike technique on a few dozen Chinese POWs during the war.  He returned after amnesty was declared and lived out his life as an instructor.

 

Takayama

 

My kaigunto.  Likely late war with the single haikan

 

You can see the blade is shorter than normal, and has that fat tip

Edited September 22 by Bruce Pennington

[TracA]

Beautiful sword, Bruce. Thanks for sharing.

 

Tracy