The History of Japanese Sword Dealer Guilds: From Edo-Period Kabunakama to Modern Industry Self-Regulation

The Beginning of the Sword Trade in the Edo Period

The buying and selling of Japanese swords had been practiced since ancient times, but it was during the Edo period that professional merchants called "katanaya" (sword dealers) became established as a clear occupation in society. In the age of peace, the sword was no longer a purely martial tool but came to hold multifaceted value as proof of a samurai's status, a tool of etiquette, a work of art, and an investment. This diversification of demand fostered the establishment of the sword dealer profession as a specialized occupation.

Edo-period sword dealers could generally be divided into two types: the "goyō-katanaya" (official dealers) who procured swords within specific feudal relationships as purveyors to the shogunate and daimyo houses, and the "machi-katanaya" (town dealers) who served samurai and wealthy merchants in the cities. Numerous sword dealers lined the streets of Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto, and sword dealer districts formed, particularly around Nihonbashi in Edo and along Sakaimoji in Osaka.

Formation of Trade Guilds—The "Kabunakama" System

One of the most important institutions in the Edo shogunate's economic policy was the "kabunakama" (trade guild). The kabunakama was a merchant guild formed by members of the same trade under official shogunate recognition. In exchange for paying a fixed license fee (tax) to the shogunate, guild members were granted the exclusive right to conduct business in their designated trade.

Sword dealers were also subject to the kabunakama system, and Edo's sword dealers organized the "Tōken-shō Kabunakama" (sword-merchant guild). The main functions of the kabunakama were as follows.

• Price Control: Setting minimum and maximum prices for the purchase and sale of swords to prevent excessive price collapse or excessive profits
• Quality Control: Mutual oversight to prevent the circulation of false attributions and forgeries, and the obligation to report to wholesalers
• Regulation of New Entrants: Excluding non-member businesses and protecting the profits of existing dealers
• Dispute Resolution: Resolving disputes between dealers internally and reducing lawsuits brought to the magistrate's office

The Honami Family and the Sword Industry

The greatest authority in the sword industry was the "Honami family," which reigned as the iemoto (hereditary head) of appraisers and polishers. The Honami family was granted by the shogun the authority to issue authentication certificates (orikami), and wielded tremendous influence in determining the authenticity and valuation of swords.

The sword dealers' guild valued its relationship with the Honami family, and made it standard practice to attach a Honami authentication certificate to all important sword transactions. The presence or absence of an authentication certificate greatly affected a sword's price, and it was not uncommon for authenticated swords to command prices more than double those of unauthenticated blades. This practice became the prototype for the modern "NBTHK (Japanese Sword and Art Preservation Society) Appraisal Certificate" system.

The Tenpō Reforms and the Dissolution and Reorganization of Kabunakama

In the late Edo period, during the Tenpō Reforms (1841–1843), senior councilor Mizuno Tadakuni blamed the kabunakama as the cause of rising prices and issued an order dissolving all guilds. The sword merchants' guild was forced to dissolve temporarily, but the resulting free competition did not necessarily lead to lower prices; instead, it caused market confusion and the proliferation of counterfeits and poor-quality swords.

In 1851 (Kaei 4), the shogunate recognized the revival of kabunakama, and the sword merchants re-established their guild. This episode was an important event that established within the shogunate the recognition that industry self-regulation (merchant guilds) was essential for quality control and maintaining market order.

Evolution of Industry Organizations After the Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration (1868) and the Swords Abolition Edict (1876) dealt a devastating blow to the sword industry. Demand collapsed, and many sword dealers went out of business. However, demand for swords as works of art and antiques remained, and the surviving sword dealers repositioned themselves as "fine art sword merchants."

From the late Meiji period through the Taisho period, sword merchants in various regions began re-establishing trade associations as voluntary organizations. In the Showa period, the predecessor organization of the "All Japan Sword Merchants' Cooperative Association" was established, and guild activities became more active with the postwar revival of the sword industry.

The present-day "All Japan Sword Merchants' Cooperative Association (Zentōshō)" functions as the industry's representative organization and conducts the following activities.

• Guidance and promotion regarding proper distribution of registration certificates
• Hosting and sponsoring sword fairs and exhibitions
• Formulating response guidelines for foreign purchasers
• Counterfeiting and smuggling countermeasures in coordination with the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the National Police Agency

Modern Significance of Industry Self-Regulation

Internet-based distribution management has emerged as a particularly important contemporary issue for industry self-regulation in the sword market. The unregistered sale of swords through secondhand marketplaces and auction sites, inappropriate sales to foreign buyers, and the circulation of false attributions and forged certificates are recognized as problems, and strengthening the guild's capacity to respond has become an urgent priority.

The function of "maintaining market order," which the Edo-period kabunakama fulfilled, remains the most important role that industry associations must fulfill in the present day. For the buying and selling of the Japanese sword, a unique cultural property, to be conducted appropriately, both legal regulation and industry self-regulation are essential.