While I don’t dispute that California has a tendency to have obnoxious firearms law:

https://legalbeagle.com/7402613-california-sword-law.html

Surprisingly, it’s entirely legal to carry a sword in public in California, as long as you are the wearer is not brandishing it or concealing it. In other words, if the sword is carried in a sheath suspended from the wearer’s waist, it is legal to have in public.

That being said, from memory going through California’s code, I believe that they explicitly have katana restrictions, along with some other restrictions on Japanese weapons, probably for the same reason that a number of states have switchblade restrictions: there were movies that hyped up the “gangster” aspect.

kagis

Hmm. No, and it looks like the nunchucks ban was repealed during the last few years, so they may have re-legalized katana carry along with that.

https://usanunchaku.com/california-legalized-nunchaku/

For over 50 years the state of California has made nunchaku illegal or restricted to only state licensed martial arts schools. As of 9/30 2021 this restriction in California has been repealed with the passing of CA Senate Bill No 827 and has resulted in California Legalized Nunchaku for everyone.

Now all California residents may purchase nunchaku without restriction or needing to be a member of a martial arts school training in the art of nunchaku. Here at American Nunchaku Company we welcome our new and old Californian customers and invite you to stop by and check out our collection of custom handmade nunchaku.

Shruikens – ninja stars – remain banned in California, though.

https://casetext.com/statute/california-codes/california-penal-code/part-6-control-of-deadly-weapons/title-3-weapons-and-devices-other-than-firearms/division-9-shuriken/section-22410-unlawful-manufacture-import-keeping-for-sale-offer-for-sale-giving-lending-or-possession-of-shuriken

One can but imagine the plague of ninja being held back by this legislation.