Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The life of a sword salesman isn't all glamour.
Susumu Takeda sat in Room 117 at the Hampton Inn Thursday and stared out the window. It was late on the first day of his two-day visit to Roanoke, and he had yet to see a really good sword.
Takeda, who works for Miyazaki Antiques in Osaka, Japan, makes eight to 10 trips to the United States every year in search of antique Japanese swords, which his company resells to Japanese collectors. This trip, he's hitting Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville and a few other Virginia cities.
Swords are big business in Japan, where collectors will pay upward of $100,000 for an old sword in good shape. Sometimes swords can be traced back to the descendants of their original owners. These, Takeda said, fetch huge sums.
They aren't big business in Southwest Virginia, though. Just go down the list of antique dealers and weapon shops in the Yellow Pages and try to find someone who handles Japanese swords on a regular basis.
"He might not find many in this town," said Claude Eggleston, owner of Claude's Antiques & Collectibles. "When we find something like that, it's just accidental."
"I thought business would be much better," Takeda said with a slight smile. He said he thought Virginia would be more like North Carolina. He visited that state in May and had to wire back to Japan for more money. Twice. Those Tarheels apparently have some good weapons stashed away.
A few people around Roanoke have responded to his newspaper ad. He paid one local woman $8,000 for a late-19th-century ceremonial sword earlier in the afternoon. Sounds like a lot of cash for an oversized old knife, albeit an elaborately decorated one, but Takeda said it's nothing special. For a really good sword he'll pay $50,000 or more. About one sword in 50 is worth more than $10,000. Five years ago, he paid a Michigan man $115,000 for a sword the man had bought for $65 at a garage sale.
Most of his Roanoke encounters have been, well, less memorable. "I brought this home 50 years ago and never looked at it," said Al Broughton of Roanoke as he handed over a long sword. "I put it in a closet in the basement and there it stayed."
As Takeda removed the handle to check for an inscription, a shower of rust particles and dirt fell onto the table in front of him. He held the blade up to the light, checked out the handle with a magnifying glass and made his offer: $200. Broughton and his wife, Joan, accepted.
The couple left, and Takeda swiped futilely at the rusty blade with a dry washcloth. He looked at his assistant and sometime interpreter, Kaz Kikuchi.
"Good for parts," he said with a laugh. And then he sat down with a sigh, looked out the window and waited for the next knock.
by CNB