The Eve of the Sword Abolition Edict—The Meiji Restoration and the Dissolution of the Warrior Class

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 (Meiji 1) was a political revolution that transformed the structure of Japanese society from its foundations. Shortly after the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the establishment of a new government centered on the Emperor, successive institutional reforms were implemented that questioned the very existence of the warrior class. Through the Abolition of the Han and Establishment of Prefectures (1871), samurai from each han were reclassified as shizoku, and the right to wear swords—previously a symbol of warrior status—began to be undermined.

For the new government, the abolition of sword-wearing was not merely a symbolic act, but an essential condition for establishing a modern conscription-based military. To abolish the exclusive right to bear arms held only by samurai and to organize a new military on the principle of universal conscription, it was necessary to exclude the presence of sword-bearing shizoku from public spaces.

The Establishment and Impact of the Sword Abolition Edict (1876)

On March 28, 1876 (Meiji 9), the "Sword Abolition Edict" was promulgated as Imperial Ordinance No. 38. This ordinance simply stipulated "the wearing of swords is prohibited except when wearing formal court dress, when wearing military or police uniforms, and for travelers," effectively banning the carrying of swords in public by both commoners and shizoku.

The enforcement of the Sword Abolition Edict dealt a devastating blow to the sword-making industry. The samurai and shizoku class, which had accounted for the majority of demand, were overnight removed from the main customer base, and new demand for swords virtually disappeared. Many sword makers were forced to cease operations, and hundreds of forges that had existed throughout the country during the Edo period were rapidly closed down. The livelihoods of related craftsmen—sword furniture makers, sword polishers, scabbard makers, and others—also became unsustainable.

The "Shinpuren Rebellion" in Kumamoto (October) that year and the "Satsuma Rebellion" the following year in 1877, which arose in resistance to the Sword Abolition Edict, were the last armed resistance against the disappearance of samurai values, but both were suppressed by the modern conscription-based military. With the death in defeat of Saigō Takamori in the Satsuma Rebellion, warrior culture centered on the sword came to a virtual end.

The Suffering and Career Change of Sword Makers—The Reality of Industrial Collapse

The situation of sword makers after the Sword Abolition Edict was dire. In renowned sword-producing regions from the Edo period such as Bizen (Okayama), Mino (Gifu), Settsu (Osaka), and Musashi (Tokyo), the majority of sword makers either ceased operations or transitioned to other trades.

Some sword makers transitioned to forging agricultural implements, sickles, kitchen knives, and other everyday items, but this was not work that could fully utilize their skills as artistic sword makers. Even sword makers who attempted to maintain their techniques faced a crisis as apprentices could no longer be found, and traditional sword-forging techniques were rapidly being lost.

The Meiji government, meanwhile, maintained demand for military ceremonial swords (guntō), but these were mass-produced through modern Western manufacturing lines and represented a different path from traditional artistic sword-making techniques.

Cultural Property Recognition in the Late Meiji Period and the Re-evaluation of Artistic Swords

About twenty years after the Sword Abolition Edict, beginning in the 1890s (Meiji 20s), social recognition of the Japanese sword began to shift from "weapon" to "artwork and cultural property." This shift was driven by the "Ancient Temples and Shrines Preservation Law" (1890, Meiji 23) and the cultural property protection movement linked to the establishment of the Imperial Museum (now the Tokyo National Museum) and others.

In 1906 (Meiji 39), the "Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords" was established, and systematic efforts began to protect and authenticate swords of high artistic value. Legal protections to prevent the outflow of swords to overseas were also being put in place.

During this period, some sword makers—particularly those with connections to the imperial court and influential figures—resumed activities as artistic sword makers and devoted themselves to preserving traditional techniques. Getsuyama Sadakazu (first generation) and Miyairi Yukihira are known as representative revivalists of this period.

Revival in the Taishō and Early Shōwa Periods and Transformation Through War

From the late Meiji period through the Taishō period, the Japanese sword was re-evaluated in a nationalist context as a "symbol of the spirit of bushidō." With the rise of militarism, sword demand increased again in the early Shōwa period, but this centered on military sword production and differed in direction from traditional artistic swords.

After World War II, a devastating situation arose again due to weapons confiscation orders by the GHQ (1945–1946), but because recognition as cultural property had been established, artistic swords received some protection. Through cultural property protection measures in 1948, a protection system was established under the modern Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords (NBTHK, established 1948), and the sword-making industry has maintained its vitality to the present day.

The revival of the Japanese sword industry, which survived the historical discontinuity of the Sword Abolition Edict, was made possible by the civilizational transformation of "the aestheticization of weapons." Without this transformation, the survival of Japanese sword culture in the modern era would not have been possible.