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A rare Japanese sword dating from the 17th century – thought to have been a diplomatic gift – has been uncovered during excavations in Berlin.
The wakizashi, a short sword carried by samurai in feudal Japan, was found in the basement of a former residential building in the city’s Molkenmarkt.
Along with the weapon, archaeologists uncovered various other military artefacts, such as bridles and stirrups, thought to have been discarded at the end of the Second World War. The heavily corroded sword was initially thought to have been a parade weapon from around the same period.
However, closer inspection of the handle revealed motifs of Daikokuten, a Japanese deity associated with prosperity. Along with the sword’s style, these motifs allowed experts from Berlin’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History to date the artefact to Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868), a time of relative stability and growth for the country – as well as of isolation from the rest of the world.
The wakizashi sword following restoration. The handle features the motif of Daikokuten, a Japanese deity. Image: State Museums of Berlin, Museum of Prehistory and Early History/Anica Kelp
X-rays of the sword failed to uncover any blacksmith’s forge marks, although they did reveal that the blade had been shortened from its original length and could be much older than the handle.
‘Who could have imagined that, at a time when Japan was isolated and hardly any European traveller had entered the country, such a long-used and richly decorated weapon would find its way here?’, said Berlin state archaeologist Matthias Wemhoff.
‘The find indeed raises more questions than answers, particularly about how the sword ended up in Berlin in the first place,’ he added.
Molkenmarkt is close to the city’s Royal Palace, where Wilhelm I, German Emperor between 1871 and 1888, received foreign visitors.
There were two diplomatic visits made by Japan to Germany in the mid-19th century: the Takenouchi Mission (1862) and the Iwakura Mission (1873). But how the sword came to rest in a cellar of a Molkenmarkt house, along with Second World War militaria, remains unclear.
It recently went on display for the first time at Berlin’s Samurai Museum.
