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Open Legend · Unsolved

The Honjo Masamune

Vanished 1945, Last seen Mejiro, Tokyo, Japan
COLD TRAIL
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

The Honjo Masamune: still unexplained.

The finest sword ever forged in Japan

The subject
developing the photograph…
The manifest
The finest sword ever forged in Japan
Last known, where the trail went cold
Surrendered to the Mejiro police station in December 1945 and signed out by a sergeant, 'Coldy Bimore', whose name matches no soldier who ever served.
The account

Seven centuries of samurai history in a single blade, handed over in occupied Tokyo and walked out the door by a ghost. The receipt exists. The name on it does not. Somewhere, an attic, a footlocker, a collection that doesn't know what it holds, Masamune's masterpiece waits to be recognized.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • The legendary Masamune sword, a Japanese national treasure, was surrendered to US occupation forces in December 1945 and handed to a Sergeant whose recorded name matches no real serviceman.
  • That single handover document is the only lead; the blade most likely went home with an American and may sit unrecognized in a private collection.
  • This is a provenance hunt through 1945 to 1946 occupation personnel, not a dig.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • The legendary Masamune sword, a Japanese national treasure, was surrendered to US occupation forces in December 1945 and handed to a Sergeant whose recorded name matches no real serviceman.
  • That single handover document is the only lead; the blade most likely went home with an American and may sit unrecognized in a private collection.
  • This is a provenance hunt through 1945 to 1946 occupation personnel, not a dig.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position 35.710°, 139.710° (approx.) View on the Map