[ArraryTauTDew]

I'm traveling in Asia, and in Korea a gent who practices Western fencing showed me his new foil. We ended up talking about Japan, kendo (of which I don't know much, but definitely more than him.... ), and the Sword Act.

Then, it occurred to me that a Western fencing foil or saber is a metal sword, longer than 15cm, hence, edge or not, probably something that runs afoul of Japan's Sword Act.

I've looked as well as a I can herein but can't find a topic that addresses this question - does Western fencing equipment fall under the Sword Act? If so, how are they brought into Japan, licensed, etc?

Thanks,

Lance Gatling

[Poowssnople]

A brief check of the international fencing federation found the contact details of the Japanese fencing federation:
APAN (JPN)

Fédération Japonaise d'Escrime
1-1-1 Jinnan, Shibuya-Ku
TOKYO
Phone :
Fax :
E-mail :
+81 3 3481 2378
+81 3 3481 2379
fencing@japan-sports.or.jp

I have a feeeling they will be the best people to ask, though logically one would assume there's a way around the law if there's a japanese fencing federation

[ballerturfali]

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.