DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Japan Sword Law and Western fencing swords

**ballerturfali** · 06-05-2010, 04:09 AM

Not saying this with any authority and you should still check with APAN or some other authority before taking fencing equipment into Japan but...

I asked a Japanese with no special knowledge in this area whether the sword law bans fencing epee since these are more or less blunted rapiers (I did epee during my uni years). With a metal grinder you could turn an epee into a live thrusting weapon. My friend said the law covers cutting weapons so epee should not fall foul. Same logic for foils though they don't tend to make good live swords. A sabre if memory serves me right, has a small rectangular cross section so would be impractical for taking an edge despite being made of steel. Therefore the sabre is arguably just a thick steel wire.

Again, this was not an expert discussion nor based on any substantiable facts, just a passing question that was not dwelt upon so if you're taking fencing equipment into Japan you should check with knowledgable people first.

06-05-2010, 04:09 AM	#3
ballerturfali Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 332 Senior Member	Not saying this with any authority and you should still check with APAN or some other authority before taking fencing equipment into Japan but... I asked a Japanese with no special knowledge in this area whether the sword law bans fencing epee since these are more or less blunted rapiers (I did epee during my uni years). With a metal grinder you could turn an epee into a live thrusting weapon. My friend said the law covers cutting weapons so epee should not fall foul. Same logic for foils though they don't tend to make good live swords. A sabre if memory serves me right, has a small rectangular cross section so would be impractical for taking an edge despite being made of steel. Therefore the sabre is arguably just a thick steel wire. Again, this was not an expert discussion nor based on any substantiable facts, just a passing question that was not dwelt upon so if you're taking fencing equipment into Japan you should check with knowledgable people first.
	Quote