Restoration of the swords was done by Wayne Shijo and Doug Louie, volunteers from the Sacramento Japanese Sword Club, who did a demonstration of proper care of the swords and discussed their history and cultural significance. On display were the oldest blades in the collection, a katana dating back from 1648, a wakashi from 1806 and an inscribed spearhead that had yet to have its engravings translated.Īmy Kautzman, the dean of the University Library, said that the collection will be beneficial for students and will be used “to educate our students about the Japanese-American tradition in Sacramento and the lesson to be learned from (Executive) Order 9066.”Įxecutive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, called for the mass internment of American Citizens of Japanese descent.

The University Library Department of Special Collections and University Archives unveiled its newly-restored Japanese sword collection on Saturday. The collection includes swords going back as far as 1648. Sacramento State English professor Josh McKinney demonstrates traditional Japanese sword drills during an unveiling ceremony Saturday, April 7, 2018.The swords belong to the Japanese-American Archival Collection’s special collections.

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