Real-Life Reverse Blade Sword Goes On Museum Display

This month, the world's first ever verified authentic reverse blade sword was put on display in the Museum of Local History in Shiroi, Chiba. Dubbed the Sakabatou after the similar weapon featured in Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, such a sword was thought to be nothing more than a work of fiction until it surfaced in Shiroi last year.

The sword, discovered this October by the Kawakami family in their archive warehouse, dates back to the late Edo Period. Its total length runs a total of 28.2 centimeters, with a blade that is 22.6 centimeters long. The Kawakami family had been in charge of managing the upkeep of horses and cattle owned by the shogunate at that time, and as such have been the possessors of numerous artifacts from the era.

Due to the rarity of the sword's specifications, based off of its size and positioning of the blade, no such sword has ever been put in the official registry of Japanese swords. Despite this, a special committee will be meeting on the 25th of this month to study the short-sword, gathering data on it and discussing whether or not the sword should be given the status of a Cultural Property of the Chiba Prefecture.