The Showa Legacy in Modern Swords: How Postwar Revival and Living National Treasure Smiths Forged an Unbroken Chain of Tradition

The Terror of Technical Discontinuity—Until the Resumption in Showa 28

From the end of World War II in Showa 20 (1945) until the lifting of the ban on new sword manufacturing in Showa 28 (1953), for approximately eight years, sword smiths were unable to legally manufacture new swords. The "Sword Manufacturing Prohibition Ordinance" issued by GHQ even included the manufacture of artistic swords, forcing many sword smiths to change professions to make a living. Not a few survived by manufacturing farming implements and tools as blacksmiths, or by turning to charcoal-making and agriculture.

This period is also called "the blank period of Japanese sword manufacturing technology," and many people involved felt a sense of crisis that "traditional techniques might be cut off." Forging techniques are an accumulation of embodied knowledge that is difficult to verbalize, and closing workshops could mean the death of the craft.

However, in reality, the maintenance and transmission of techniques continued beneath the surface. Elderly sword smiths secretly passed on their techniques to young apprentices, and records of spent whetstones and soil mixtures for tempering were carefully preserved. Some sword smiths maintained their forges under the pretext of making kitchen knives and farm tools, refusing to lose their sense of forging. The existence of those who, while maintaining outward silence, continued to bridge to the next generation before the flames became the foundation for the postwar revival of Japanese sword culture.

Showa 28—The Sword Smiths' New Beginning

When new sword manufacturing was lifted in the same year as the implementation of the Firearms and Swords Law (Showa 28), elderly sword smiths returned to their forges and began swinging their hammers. But the problem was not just a lack of skilled people. Because the supply of tamahagane had been cut off, many sword smiths were forced to use substitute steel—railroad rail steel or special machinery steel. While these materials were uniform and easy to work with, they could not produce the fine forge grain pattern and jihada characteristic of tamahagane, and sometimes received criticism from sword enthusiasts as "not authentic."

In Showa 32 (1957), under the leadership of the Japan Art Sword Preservation Society (NBTHK), the "Masterpieces of Japanese Swords Exhibition" was held, and quality assessments of contemporary swords after production resumed were conducted in public. This exhibition served as encouragement to contemporary sword smiths while also highlighting the challenge of standardizing quality levels. The excellent works selected through judging served as proof to society that techniques were indeed being transmitted, and instilled in young sword smiths a strong sense of competition and pride.

The Revival of Tatara and the Regeneration of Tamahagane

The greatest technical challenge in the revival of contemporary swords was securing tamahagane. During the wartime and postwar confusion, traditional tatara smelting had effectively stopped, and the technicians known as "murage" who knew the methods were aging and declining in number.

In November of Showa 52 (1977), full-scale operations of the "NBTHK Tatara" began in the Okuizumo region of Shimane Prefecture. This project, led by the NBTHK, was an unprecedented attempt from the perspective of cultural property preservation to recreate the ancient tatara iron-smelting technique using only iron sand and charcoal. The production of kera (iron chunks) using the traditional method of firing the furnace for three days and three nights, and the work of sorting tamahagane for sword smiths from it, were supported by craftsmanship completely different from modern industrial iron-smelting.

After that, tamahagane came to be produced in annual operations. The revival of NBTHK Tatara was more than just securing materials. Because tamahagane has uneven carbon content, the "造り込み" technique of separating and combining the outer steel (kawagane) and core steel (shingane) through forging comes to life. This technique is the foundation that produces the Japanese sword's characteristic properties of "flexibility without breaking, unbending, and excellent sharpness," and authentic Japanese swords cannot exist without tamahagane. The NBTHK Tatara continues to operate one to two times annually and supports stable supply to domestic sword smiths.

Living National Treasures—The Giants Born of Showa

From among the sword smiths who were active during the Showa period, multiple individuals were designated as Important Intangible Cultural Property Holders (Living National Treasures) after the war. All of them overcame the trials of the military sword era and the blank period of manufacturing prohibition, and their designation was an evaluation of not only their technical excellence but also their will to transmit across generations.

• Tsukiyama Teiichu (2nd generation) (Designated: Showa 46 [1971])—An Osaka sword smith who lived from the Meiji to Showa periods. He continued to preserve the Tsukiyama school's distinctive "ayasugihada"—the complex surface pattern reminiscent of ripples on water. He is known for maintaining traditional forging methods in resistance to the demands for uniformity and mass production required by military sword manufacturing, and his spirit has been passed down to the current Tsukiyama Teiji.
• Miyairi Gyohei (Designated: Showa 38 [1963], died: Showa 52 [1977])—A sword smith from Nagano. Building on the Shinshu tradition and working to recreate the jihada of ancient swords, he was a symbolic figure in the Showa sword world who actively participated in the revival of tatara. He devoted himself to training disciples until his later years, and his techniques were passed down to Miyairi Kozaemon Gyohei.
• Sumitani Shoho (Designated: Showa 46)—From Matsuai City, Ishikawa Prefecture (now Hakusan City). He is highly regarded as the person who established his own "compound-lamination" forging technique—a method of stacking steel with different carbon content in multiple layers—and dramatically raised the technical level of postwar contemporary swords. Sumitani's sword-making philosophy was guided by the belief that "beauty and sharpness are born from the same source," and he passed this philosophy on to his disciples.

The techniques developed by these masters during the difficult Showa era function as a living textbook for contemporary sword smiths.

The Chain of Masters and Disciples—The Lineage of Techniques Extending from Showa to Reiwa

The greatness of Living National Treasure sword smiths lies not only in the beauty of their works. It is the "chain of masters and disciples" that continues with the disciples they trained and those disciples further trained that forms the essential strength of contemporary Japanese sword culture.

In Japanese traditional crafts, techniques are not transmitted through written words. Furnace temperature is read by "hiiro," tempering timing is determined by "water sound," and the condition of steel is felt through the weight and rebound of the hammer. These can only be learned by standing beside the master in front of the furnace for many years. The Living National Treasure sword smiths of Showa transmitted that embodied knowledge to the next generation through one-to-one master-disciple relationships.

As many contemporary renowned sword smiths recall, "I still remember my master's hammer sound," the technical sensibility born in Showa's forges remains in the air of workshops in the Reiwa era. Within a single sword, the memories of multiple generations' hands are layered.

Contemporary Evaluation of Showa Traditional Forged Swords

Swords manufactured using traditional methods during the Showa period continue to receive high evaluations in the contemporary sword market. Not only works by Living National Treasures, but also works by licensed sword smiths (craftsmen with mastery in the Meiji and Taisho periods who were active in Showa) regularly fetch auction prices of several million to over ten million yen. The basis for this evaluation lies not in "age" but in both technical completeness and historical context. The stance of sword smiths who resisted the demands for mass production of military swords or who survived the blank period of manufacturing prohibition and continued forging without compromise resonates strongly in the hearts of contemporary enthusiasts.

Moreover, works by Living National Treasures of the Showa period have the practical advantage of being documented and easily verifiable in provenance, even though they exist in limited numbers. Through the examination records of preservation societies and exhibition catalogs, it is often possible to trace the year of manufacture, materials used, and tempering techniques, and their value as research materials is also high.

The techniques and spirit that Showa traditional sword smiths risked their lives to preserve support the very foundations of contemporary Japanese sword culture. Their legacy exists in the form of works in the hands of enthusiasts at home and abroad, and continues to live in the form of disciples in active workshops. When gazing upon a single sword, contemporary viewers must not forget that the struggles and pride of the Showa era are reflected in its blade. The Japanese Sword Column Archives provides further details about the history and techniques of these sword smiths.