Military Sword Scabbard Craft Evolution: From Lacquer to Leather — How Wartime Demands Transformed the Scabbard Maker's Art

Traditional Lacquer Sheaths——Pre-Showa Techniques

The lacquering of Japanese sword sheaths has long been a specialized technique handled by urushi workers (lacquer craftsmen). More than mere "coating," it was a complex craft in which woodworking, material processing, and design merged as one. It was not uncommon for completion of a single sheath to take several months.

1. Wood Base (kiji) Production involved shaping two pieces of lightweight, fine-grained timber such as hoo, shirotuga, or kiri, carving them to conform to the shape of the blade. The precision of the interior dimensions determined in this process directly affected the smoothness of inserting and withdrawing the blade. Often the wood craftsman and the lacquerer were separate specialists, and differences in the timber species and finishing methods were seen across production regions such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Okayama.
2. Base Coat Application involved layering rust urushi and fabric urushi alternately to establish the foundation. A technique called "fabric adhesion" in which hemp cloth or Japanese paper was glued with urushi was also used to prevent the wood base from splitting or warping. The base coat process alone was repeated ten or more times, with each layer requiring a minimum of two to three days of drying. Drying in a humidity-controlled "room" (muro) was the traditional method, and the control of temperature and humidity directly determined the quality of the final finish.
3. Middle and Top Coats employed colored lacquers and special urushi. Various lacquers such as black urushi, red urushi, and dark amber urushi were chosen according to design and purpose.
4. In the final stage of finishing and polishing, diverse finishing techniques such as ishime-nuri (stone-grain finish), hakeme-nuri (brush-mark finish), shutamari-nuri (red-amber finish), and kawari-nuri (varied finish) were employed.

Sheaths crafted by renowned lacquerers received high artistic evaluation among sword fittings and were sometimes traded as individual pieces with certificates of authenticity.

Standardization of Leather Sheaths in Showa Military Swords

The adoption of "tea-colored leather wrapping" as the standard for the Type 98 military saber established in 1938 (Showa 13) was the result of multiple converging factors.

• Weather Resistance and Combat Suitability: While lacquered sheaths possessed a certain degree of water and moisture resistance, they had limitations in the hot, humid environments of Southeast Asia and the South Seas, which were the primary battlegrounds of the Pacific War. In tropical rainforest areas with annual precipitation exceeding 3,000 millimeters, the risk of lacquer swelling and peeling was high, and the durability of leather sheaths proved effective in combat conditions. The relative ease of field repairs to damaged leather also contributed to its superiority on the front lines.
• Mass Production Readiness was also a factor that cannot be ignored. Lacquered sheaths required weeks to months to complete. As wartime mobilization accelerated and demand for military swords surged, maintaining lacquer-coating processes significantly strained the arsenals' scheduling. Leather wrapping dramatically reduced drying wait times and could be handled by workers trained in the technique over a relatively short period, rather than requiring master lacquerers.
• Availability of Craftsmen was also a factor. While training lacquer masters required ten years or more of apprenticeship, leather workers were already distributed throughout the country, supported by the demand for horse gear, shoes, and military equipment. At military arsenals in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, existing leather craftsmen were incorporated into the military sword sheath production process.

Materials and Specifications of Leather Sheaths——Type 98 Details

The leather used for Type 98 military saber sheaths was fundamentally "tea-dyed cow leather," with hoo wood primarily used for the wooden base. The leather was approximately 1.5 to 2 millimeters thick and was adhered and sewn to completely envelope the wooden base. Reinforcement near the koiguchi (sheath opening) and particularly careful finishing were required at the joints with obitorie, kurigata, and kojiri.

Fittings were primarily iron; in later periods, brass and zinc alloys were used as materials became scarce. The combination with tea-colored leather gave a practical, sturdy impression befitting a military saber. Conversely, high-end custom mountings (koshirae) ordered by officers sometimes maintained the Type 98 form while using silver or gold-plated fittings, or adopting lacquer instead of leather.

After 1944 (Showa 19), as material shortages worsened with deteriorating war conditions, leather quality declined and instances of synthetic leather and fabric lining being used as substitute materials have been documented. During this period, fittings were also omitted and the wooden base became rougher; by the time of the war's end, there was significant variation in quality standards.

Persistence of Lacquer Technique——Continuity of Art Swords and Traditional Mountings

After the standard military saber mountings shifted to leather, lacquer-sheath technique persisted as the mounting for "art swords."

Officers' personally commissioned swords and post-war "iaito" and "enbu-to" (demonstration swords) continued to demand traditional lacquered sheaths. From the 1950s onward, as Japanese swords underwent reevaluation as art objects, the elegance of black and red lacquers and their value as backdrop treatment for red-copper and gold-silver inlays were rediscovered. Contemporary swordmakers continue to craft traditional lacquered sheaths, which remain an indispensable element of the mounting for high-grade swords.

Throughout history, "adapting technique to the demands of the era while preserving its essence"——the work of sheath craftsmen embodies the very essence of craft culture itself.