Ashikaga Takauji's Kenmu Shikimoku and Sword Policy: The Origins of Early Muromachi Period Sword Order

The Collapse of the Kenmu Restoration and the Rise of Ashikaga Takauji

Emperor Go-Daigo, who toppled the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, initiated the "Kenmu Restoration," but having failed to meet the expectations of the samurai, it collapsed after merely about two and a half years. In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji established the foundation of the Muromachi shogunate by supporting Emperor Kōmyō, and in the same year promulgated the "Kenmu Formulary." This formulary served as the basic laws of the shogunate and set standards for warrior society, but it also held important significance in its provisions concerning swords.

The promulgation of the Kenmu Formulary was not merely a declaration of governing norms. In an era when sword production had dramatically increased through the upheaval of the Northern and Southern Courts, it also represented the determination of warrior power to manage the production, distribution, and carrying of swords.

In that a warrior regime sought to demonstrate order through written law, the Kenmu Formulary was symbolic of the character of the Muromachi shogunate in its early days. To unite regional warrior bands, military might alone was insufficient; systems demonstrating propriety and norms were necessary, and swords as implements of war were likewise incorporated into this order system.

The Oversupply of Swords in the Northern and Southern Courts Period

The Northern and Southern Courts period (1336–1392), from the establishment of Takauji's regime, was one of the greatest sword mass-production eras in history. Long nodachi and ōdachi became widespread, and master swordsmiths of Bizen, Sōshū, and Mino continued increasing production to meet battlefield demand. The mass supply of this era also impacted sword quality, so much so that the assessment "crude and oversized swords of the Northern and Southern Courts" became established in later ages.

For Takauji's shogunate, managing this oversupply of swords was an issue of governance. As warfare moved toward cessation, regulation of sword carrying and the identification and control of superior swordsmiths became urgent matters.

Against this background of mass production, even among swords of the same Northern and Southern Courts period, quality and preservation condition varied. Many tachi and ōdachi from the Northern and Southern Courts period that survive to the present have undergone suri-age (reforging the nakago to be shorter) in later ages, and works that survive with an original nakago are considered rare in themselves.

The Positioning of Weapons and Swords in the Kenmu Formulary

Direct provisions regulating swords are not explicitly recorded in the text of the Kenmu Formulary, yet the formulary's ideals—"the establishment of warrior propriety and order"—rippled out to sword culture as well. After the formulary's promulgation, the shogunate gradually organized the etiquette of samurai sword-carrying, and regulations prohibiting sword-carrying in certain places and circumstances accumulated over time.

In Takauji's period it was still under development, but records remain of the aspiration toward "restrictions on sword-carrying in the streets of Kyoto" and "prohibition of sword use within temples and shrines." This can be understood as one of the starting points of a long history of sword control leading to the later "sword hunt" (Toyotomi Hideyoshi).

The beginnings of sword-carrying restrictions were carried forward into the placards and announcements repeatedly issued by the later Muromachi shogunate. The stance of trying to control the carrying and use of swords in Kyoto, the shogun's own seat of power, was itself the process by which a warrior regime sought to monopolize force, and it is positioned as a genealogy extending to the concept of sword-bearing rank in the Edo period.

The Takauji Regime and the Beginning of Swordsmith Protection

Among the sword policies implemented by Takauji, noteworthy is the movement to protect and employ certain swordsmiths as official craftsmen (goyō) of the shogunate. In records from the Northern and Southern Courts period, we see examples of leading swordsmiths from Bizen and Sōshū receiving commissions from the Takauji regime to forge swords. This can be understood as the beginning of the later "goyō-kajishi system" (a system in which the shogun summons swordsmiths to Kyoto to produce official swords).

The goyō-kajishi system as a formal institution was established from the time of the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, onward, but the underlying idea of "appropriation and favoritism of swordsmiths by the shogunate" had already begun to sprout during the Takauji regime. Swords were symbols of martial might, and a ruler's possession and bestowal of fine blades was itself a declaration of political authority.

The goyō-kajishi system was not merely a matter of providing stipends to swordsmiths, but a mechanism by which the shogunal house could have swordsmiths embody the style and quality it desired. Swordsmiths who earned the shogun's trust gained demand and renown under the name of goyō, while the shogunate gained the advantage of being able to use fine blades as diplomatic gifts. Though not yet established as a formal system in Takauji's time, the relational bond between prominent swordsmiths and warrior power that manifested on an individual basis is thought to have already appeared during this period.

Takauji's Own Sword Appreciation and Extant Examples

Ashikaga Takauji, as an individual, is said to have held deep interest in swords. Among existing sources are records of Takauji commissioning specific swordsmiths to forge blades, and records of him dedicating fine swords to temples and shrines. Given that the power base of the Muromachi shogunate depended on warrior bonds mediated through swords, such interest was only natural.

Moreover, the "mounted warrior" portrait known as an image of Takauji depicts a sword, indicating how much a sword was, for contemporary generals, an implement of self-expression.

The act of a warrior lord directly commissioning a swordsmith to forge a blade, or of dedicating swords to temples and shrines, carried ritual significance transcending personal taste alone. By offering fine blades, one prayed for the protection of the Buddhas and kami, while simultaneously displaying one's martial might and piety to the world—the anecdotes concerning Takauji's swords are emblematic of the positioning of swords in warrior culture of this era.

The Influence of the Sword Order of the Early Muromachi Period on Later Ages

The "order of sword production, distribution, and carrying centered on the shogunate" that Takauji sought to establish gradually became institutionalized through the reigns of successive shoguns—Yoshimitsu, Yoshimochi, and Yoshinori. The organization of the goyō-kajishi system, the collection of fine blades as tenka gyōbutsu (objects of state), and restrictions on sword-carrying in the streets—all of these were the flowering of the warrior sword policies that had sprouted in the Takauji period.

The shogunate in its early days, led by Ashikaga Takauji, was the first regime to directly confront the question of how to control swords mass-produced during the strife-torn Northern and Southern Courts period, and how to restructure sword culture within a peaceful order. This struggle formed the institutional foundations of Japanese sword culture in later ages.

Perspectives for Appreciating and Collecting Swords Traceable to the Northern and Southern Courts and Early Muromachi Periods

At present, when appreciating and collecting swords traceable to the Northern and Southern Courts period or the early Muromachi period, several perspectives prove useful.

• Check the condition of the nakago: As mentioned earlier, ōdachi of this era often underwent suri-age in later ages, and works surviving with an original nakago are considered particularly rare.
• Confirm provenance and transmission history: Swords whose history of dedication to temples and shrines or transmission as family heirlooms is known possess historical background transcending mere artworks.
• Check the contents of authentication documents: The dating and attribution of swordsmiths are based on authentication by specialist organizations, and authentication documents issued by organizations such as the NBTHK contain findings regarding period, region, and swordsmith.

These perspectives prove equally useful both in understanding the Northern and Southern Courts and early Muromachi periods as a turning point in sword history, and in actually engaging with individual blades.