Sword Collection Culture Among Nanbokucho Period Warlords: The Dawn of Samurai Connoisseurship

The Nanboku-Chō Conflict and Rapid Increase in Sword Production——Foundation of Collection Culture

The Nanboku-Chō period (1336–1392) was an age of turmoil in which the Northern Court, established by Ashikaga Takauji, and the Southern Court, opened by Emperor Godaigo as he retreated to Yoshino, contended with each other for more than half a century. This prolonged conflict sharply increased demand for swords, and large quantities of blades were produced in the various centers of production—Bizen, Sōshū, Yamato, Yamashiro, and Mino.

The sudden surge in sword demand was not solely the result of practical necessity as weapons. The spread of customs among military commanders of bestowing swords as rewards upon subordinates and of confiscating and presenting famous blades as proof of military achievement also greatly increased their circulation. Many of the blades produced in large quantities during this era would eventually accumulate in the hands of military commanders.

Of particular note is that sword production during the Nanboku-Chō period reached its zenith not only in quantity but also in quality. The large-format blades created by Bizen smiths of this period such as Osafune Kanemitsu, Nagayoshi, and Motoshige, as well as smiths like Hirō and Akihiro who perfected the Sōshū tradition, were so highly regarded that later generations called them the "golden age of the Nanboku-Chō period."

The Ashikaga Shoguns and the Accumulation of Famous Blades——Sword Collecting as a Political Tool

Ashikaga Takauji and his successors, who established the Muromachi Shogunate after the Nanboku-Chō conflict, actively collected famous swords. Swords were symbols of military power and, at the same time, important gifts and rewards in establishing relationships between lord and vassal. The shogunal family's ability to possess and distribute superior swords was directly linked to the maintenance of political authority.

The sword collections accumulated by the Ashikaga shoguns reached a scale that would be spoken of for generations to come, with its origins in the accumulation of blades during the chaotic warfare of the Nanboku-Chō period. Note that the "Higashiyama Gyobutsu" (Higashiyama treasures) refers to the collective term for artworks—paintings, tea utensils, flower vessels, and the like—collected and organized by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth Muromachi shogun, and does not denote a collection centered on swords. As the pattern repeated in which the swords of defeated commanders passed to the victors, superior blades gradually accumulated in the hands of powerful figures.

Furthermore, the custom of presenting swords on important occasions in samurai etiquette—such as at New Year celebrations, coming-of-age ceremonies, and betrothal arrangements—became standardized during this period. As the quality of the swords presented came to reflect the status of the donor, military commanders increasingly recognized aesthetic and social value in possessing beautiful famous blades.

Individual Warriors' Attachment to Famous Blades——The Emergence of Aesthetic Collecting Consciousness

The feelings military commanders of the Nanboku-Chō period held toward swords transcended mere practical interest in weapons. This was a period in which commanders began to treasure the works of particular master smiths, take pride in possessing swords of distinguished lineage, and cultivate a culture of discussing the beauty of blades among themselves.

This formation of aesthetic consciousness was connected to the fact that swords were undergoing a transition from being "symbols of military might" to becoming "works of art." The magnificent blades and elegant hamon patterns created by Nanboku-Chō smiths could be appreciated as visual beauty in themselves. The prototype of "sword appreciation," in which commanders showed one another their blades and debated their relative merits, was taking shape in this era.

The aesthetic judgment that would become the precursor to the "Dōbō-shū" (companions) system—established later in the Muromachi period as a group of cultural figures serving the shogunal house and responsible for the connoisseurship and curation of cultural objects—was already being cultivated within samurai society during the Nanboku-Chō conflict.

The Circulation of Swords and Characteristics of Military Commanders' Collections in the Nanboku-Chō Period

Sword collecting culture in the Nanboku-Chō period had several characteristics that distinguished it from later eras.

• First, most collections were formed through plunder, confiscation, and bestowal on the battlefield, and thus differed in character from collecting by means of "commissioned production" in which famous smiths were intentionally employed to create swords. Warfare accelerated the circulation of blades, and there was a significant element of chance in how quality swords came to accumulate in the hands of commanders.
• Second, collectors of the Nanboku-Chō period did not yet pay sufficient systematic attention to the provenance and lineage of swords. Organized record-keeping of provenance and documentation of famous blades only became systematic after the mid-Muromachi period, when groups of sword connoisseurs like the Honami family rose to prominence.
• Third, most military commanders' collections of the Nanboku-Chō period were formed on the basis of personal attachment and political utility, and from the perspective of aesthetic collecting remained in an embryonic stage.

Nevertheless, the significance of warrior society's recognition of swords in this era not merely as tools but as "valued cultural artifacts" was considerable, and this period occupies an important place as an era that laid the foundation for later sword culture.

The Legacy of Nanboku-Chō Collection Culture——Its Influence on Later Eras

The famous-sword collections and collecting consciousness accumulated during the Nanboku-Chō period were inherited and developed throughout the Muromachi and Sengoku periods. The concept of the "Higashiyama Gyobutsu" perfected by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the protection of regional master smiths by Sengoku warlords, and the formation of sword collections by holders of power in the Toyotomi and Tokugawa periods—all trace their lineage back to this age of Nanboku-Chō conflict.

Many of the blades from the Nanboku-Chō period designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties in the modern era have been handed down to the present day after passing through the hands of various military commanders. The emergence of swords being treated not as mere consumables but as "cultural artifacts" to be carefully preserved and transmitted to future generations was also an important transformation of this period. The fact that we today can appreciate famous swords through museums and platforms like TOUKENZA is itself an outcome of the long accumulation of history in which commanders of the Nanboku-Chō period recognized the value of swords and preserved them.