Post-Prohibition Military Sword Demand

The 1876 Haitorei sword ban exempted military officers, meaning demand for swords continued through Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. The Imperial Army initially adopted European-style saber-type swords, but combat experience in the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars drove a return to Japanese sword forms. By 1935, the Type 94 shin-gunto standardized a tachi-style exterior with factory-produced blades.

Showa-To: Factory-Produced Military Swords

Wartime demand during 1941–1945 produced massive quantities of what are now called "Showa-to" — factory-made military swords using western steel or electric furnace steel rather than traditional tamahagane, machine-shaped rather than hand-forged, lacking the distinctive hada and hamon of traditional nihonto. The nihonto world generally recognizes these as legally registerable swords but not as fine art blades.

Hand-Forged Military Swords

Alongside industrial production, traditional swordsmiths participated in military sword production, particularly through the government-sponsored Nanto Tanrensho (1939), which used genuine tamahagane and traditional folding techniques. These hand-forged military swords are evaluated by NBTHK as standard fine art swords and command very different values from factory Showa-to.

Postwar Confiscation and Overseas Dispersal

GHQ's 1945 disarmament orders resulted in massive confiscation and destruction of both military swords and civilian-held art swords. The large numbers of nihonto held overseas — particularly in the US and Europe — trace largely to this period. The postwar nihonto preservation movement emerged directly in response to this crisis.