PCGS Set Registry: Japanese Shogunate Coinage
June 11, 2026
Bruce Lee riveted millions in movie theaters across the globe during the 1970s. I was eight years old visiting India in 1979, and my Uncle Shailesh took me to see a martial arts movie starring Lee. I didn’t know who Lee was… He was a legend, and I can’t recall which movie my uncle took me to see. However, there is a sequence in the movie The Way of the Dragon where Lee is using a defense weapon called nunchaku, or nunchucks. He doesn’t use one pair to defend himself – he has two. Lee beats up the bad guys and puts on a show with his nunchucks. The bad guys ran, with quickness!
In 1982, I was introduced to Karate Magazine by my friend Dave at the age of 11, and he had a pair of nunchucks in his possession. This is just what two clumsy 11 year olds need to be flinging around with their hands. This weapon consists of two sticks that are connected by either a cord, rope, or metal chain. The origin of this weapon may have been Chinese, but historians note that it evolved between the 17th and 19th centuries in the Ryukyu Kingdom. This kingdom existed independently between 1429 and 1879, and then it became the Okinawa Prefecture, which was eventually incorporated into Japan. My ability to use nunchucks was at the lower end of the scale and practice did not produce improvement in my case. Dave mentioned this was a choice weapon for the ninja (shinobi) who acted as secret police or spies in the country of Japan. The ninja generally collaborated with the military dictator in Japan, the shogun.
From PCGS