Full-size replica swords sold as souvenirs at a popular Harry Potter exhibition in Tokyo have fallen foul of Japan’s strict weapons control law and been recalled.
The 86cm stainless steel blade, which comes mounted on a wooden plaque, is described on the Warner Bros website that promotes the event as an “authentic recreation of Godric Gryffindor’s sword”.
But the tip of the blade was found to be sharp enough for the police to inform Warner Bros in November that possession without a special licence was illegal under Japan’s 1958 firearms and sword control law.
More than 350 replica swords were sold – at 30,000 yen (US$200) – between May 2023 and April 2024 but the police appear to have only recently become aware of its potential illegality.
The company is asking buyers to return the sword for a refund due to what it calls a “distribution issue”, with notices in Japanese and English posted on its website.
A number of the swords were available on online marketplaces in Japan but appear to have been removed.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the fictional sword is said to be 1,000 years old and commissioned by the founder of the Hogwarts school for wizards.
Tight restrictions on weapons contribute to keeping violent crime rates in Japan very low, with the annual number of shooting incidents, which usually involve yakuza gangsters, rarely breaching double figures.
A television reporter received a police caution for holding a gun without a licence during a sequence on hunting, while even ceremonial swords need to be registered with authorities.
Crimes involving weapons do occur occasionally. A 78-year-old man was arrested in July 2023 in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, for attacking his septuagenarian neighbour with a ceremonial samurai sword during an argument over noise in their apartment block.
The Warner Bros tour opened in 2023 on the site of the former Toshimaen amusement park. The facility features sets from the hit films, such as the London Ministry of Magic, and is billed as the largest indoor Harry Potter attraction in the world.
