Utsunomiya Castle

Connection to Swords

Utsunomiya Castle's connection to Japanese swords is rooted in the martial culture of the Utsunomiya clan. Shimotsuke Province was from ancient times an iron-producing region, and with the iron resources of Nasu, sword and armor manufacture flourished. The Utsunomiya clan were among the foremost retainers of the Kamakura shogunate, and their military equipment maintained the highest standards of East Kanto. During the Muromachi and Sengoku periods, the Utsunomiya clan developed practical sword culture through conflicts with the Sano and Nasu clans. The clan lords are known for commissioning named swords from master smiths, and multiple "swords transmitted through the Utsunomiya clan" are recorded in historical sources. Particularly during the era of Utsunomiya Shigenami, Okinami, and Hironami (15th–16th centuries)—when the domain reached its peak—considerable effort was devoted to protecting and cultivating sword culture. After the Okudaira clan became castellans, the first Utsunomiya domain lord Okudaira Iekatshu was descended from his father Okudaira Nobumasa (hero of the Battle of Nagashino and lord of Mino Kanō domain) and his mother Kamehime, eldest daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He enjoyed supreme confidence from the Tokugawa and is said to have stored in the castle swords granted by the shogunal house. During the Edo period, many Utsunomiya domain lords were prominent daimyo who served in high bakufu posts such as senior councillor (rōjū) and junior councillor (wakatoshiyori); swords and armor granted by successive shoguns accumulated across the generations. During the Boshin War, with Utsunomiya Castle as base, fierce battles between former bakufu and new government forces saw many swords deployed in actual combat, scarring the castle town with blade wounds. Though much of the castle was destroyed following the Meiji Restoration, Utsunomiya City Museum preserves materials relating to the region's samurai culture and swords.