Rare Japanese Sword Found in Berlin Cellar
A rare Japanese sword, thought to be hundreds of years old, has been found in an old Berlin cellar.
The short sword, known as a wakizashi, was actually found during excavations of a large area of the Berlin city center in 2022.
But only now, after restoration work took place, have experts been able to appreciate its significance.
Archaeologists have been finding plenty of surprises in an area known as Molkenmarkt, Berlin's oldest city square.
And this sword was certainly one of those surprising discoveries. Germany's state monuments office called it a "sensational find."
At first, they thought it might have been a military weapon used in parades. But after restoring it, experts said it was a Japanese sword that would have been used by samurai.
From examining the details on the sword, including a motif of Daikoku — a Japanese god of luck — on the handle, they dated it back to the Edo period, between the 17th and 19th centuries.
After doing an X-ray of the sword, they said the blade may even have been made as early as the 16th century.
Wakizashi have blades between 30 and 60 centimeters long. Along with the longer katana, they became symbols of the samurai class during the Edo period.
The wakizashi found in Germany had been damaged by heat, but archaeologists were still able to make out the ornate designs on the handle, which was made partly from wood and covered in places with ray skin.
It's not clear how the sword ended up in Berlin, but experts say it was probably brought as a gift by 19th century diplomats.
The place it was found was once a cellar of a residential building that had been damaged during World War II.
The old cellars had then been covered over by streets after the war. Archaeologists began excavating the area in 2019.
They have found hundreds of thousands of objects from past centuries during the project, which is due to run until 2025, including a ring with a gemstone from around the year 1400.
