- Hey, Mike.
How you doing, buddy? - Hey.
What's up, Corey?
May I take a look at your sword?
There we go.
Thing of beauty.
Wow, it looks awesome, man.
CHUMLEE: Sweet.
Samurais are pretty bad ass.
COREY HARRISON: Thanks, Mike.
All right.
COREY HARRISON: I'm baffled, man.
I couldn't tell you what I bought.
CHUMLEE: It's a samurai sword.
COREY HARRISON: Shut up, Chum.
I am a Japanese sword appraiser and dealer.
The guys call me up whenever they get something
new or interesting, and I help them determine
what its current value is.
After World War II, it's estimated about 3 million
Japanese swords came out of Japan that were confiscated
by the occupation forces.
Most likely, this is something like that.
COREY HARRISON: OK.
Samurais are pretty bad ass.
Well, samurai were very honorable,
very determined warriors.
So even if you and I were fighting, and I admit defeat,
I would even ask you honorably to cut off my head
and assist me.
They wanted to basically show that, OK, I'm a man.
This is it.
It's my time, and can you help me?
Not the way I'd play it, but OK.
MIKE YAMASAKI: Rick, you don't look very happy.
RICK HARRISON: Yeah, apparently I don't need you anymore,
because Chum knows everything there
is to know about swords now.
MIKE YAMASAKI: Well, I told you to call me
if you ever needed some help.
RICK HARRISON: So can you tell me about these things?
Or should I ask you?
Yeah, check them out.
So generally, when you're looking at swords to buy,
you always want to check the tang to see if it's signed,
to see if anybody famous made the sword.
This sword is signed Soshu Ju Akihiro.
He's one of the most famous makers
of Japanese sword history.
You know, people spend years and years and years
looking for the holy grail of Japanese swords.
They're worth up to $3 or $4 million.
[music playing]
I like where this is going, Rick.
MIKE YAMASAKI: Unfortunately, the signature
appears to be a forgery.
[music playing]
Well let me take a look at the handle with your permission.
Absolutely.
That was slick.
So this blade is actually very interesting,
because during the 1800s, there was a great rebellion
and a civil war going on, and many factions
were trying to take over Japan.
This blade was made in 1863 by Nagahiro
and was given to the Lord of Choshu
to protect Japan against enemies of the emperor,
the imperial family, and especially
against the Tokugawa, or the military leader.
So this is quite an important sword historically.
May I take a look at your sword?
Oh absolutely.
Right ahead.
MIKE YAMASAKI: You know, swords like this, they're laminated,
and they're made with about 33,000 layers of steel.
Yes, sir.
So their cutting ability is unparalleled.
During World War II, there was footage of one that cut
through a machine gun barrel.
CUSTOMER: Wow.
MIKE YAMASAKI: This was very prominent around 1000
to around the late 1200s.
And swords in that time period are well worth anywhere
from $50,000 up to $4 million.
[music playing]
It is really rare to find a sword from the 1200s
in fully intact condition.
Getting a sword like that is kind of like winning the lotto.
[music playing]
COREY HARRISON: So tell me, is it real?
MIKE YAMASAKI: We have to remove the handle to take
a look at the signature.
[music playing]
So what this says is actually Shin Ro.
He's a very famous maker, Iwama Shin Ro.
But there is no such maker as Ishida Koeda unfortunately.
And swords from the Kamakura period were worn opposite,
so the signature would actually be on this side of the tang.
CUSTOMER: OK.
MIKE YAMASAKI: What we have here is actually a reproduction
of a Kamakura period sword.
Wow.
RICK HARRISON: Over two years ago,
I sent a samurai sword to Japan to get fully restored.
Finally, it's back in the states,
and Mike brought it to the shop today.
I can't wait to see this.
Here it is.
[music playing]
There we go.
Oowee, that thing looks sweet.
Oh, that's nice.
The blade itself was made right around 1500, right?
MIKE YAMASAKI: Yeah.
Before it was polished, it's a little hard to tell,
but after it's polished, we can see the detail more clearly.
OK.
Early 1600s is where we agreed after the polish.
COREY HARRISON: OK.
MIKE YAMASAKI: We changed the casing to a new one, here.
And we did a special handle wrap in the old traditional way.
And we did early 1600s fittings.
But now, since it's all polished and everything,
you're going to have to have somebody take care of it.
OK.
They used to do this in samurai movies after battle.
This is called uchiko.
This is the final powdered form of polishing stone.
CHUMLEE: Little dab, dab, dab.
MIKE YAMASAKI: Basically what it does
is it takes off fingerprints, old oil, dirt, and dust.
RICK HARRISON: So what's it worth?
MIKE YAMASAKI: I'd say you're looking
that the sword's value in around the $35,000 to $40,000
territory.
RICK HARRISON: I think I did all right.