Kyōhō Sword Revival — Yoshimune's Smith Reforms and the Provincial Smith Competition

Historical Background

As the Edo period maintained peace for over two hundred years, the sword increasingly took on the character of a symbol of warrior authority and a craft object rather than a battlefield weapon. At the same time, the technical standard of swordsmithing gradually declined, and the production of masterwork blades decreased markedly compared to earlier times. As domain finances tightened, daimyo reduced support for official smiths, forcing skilled swordsmiths across Japan to retire or change occupations.

Concerned by this situation, the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune promoted the revitalization of swordsmithing as part of the Kyōhō Reforms (1716–1745). Yoshimune valued the significance of the sword as a symbol of Tokugawa warrior culture and pursued active sword policy.

The Shokoku Kaji O-aratame and the Provincial Smith Competition

In 1719 (Kyōhō 4), Yoshimune ordered his senior councilor Kuze Shigeyuki to conduct the "Shokoku Kaji O-aratame," compiling a nationwide register of swordsmiths belonging to domains of 10,000 koku or more. This provided a grasp of the actual state of smiths across Japan and laid the groundwork for identifying outstanding swordsmiths.

In the spring of 1721 (Kyōhō 6), a provincial smith competition was held at the Hama-goten, the shogun's seaside residence at the mouth of the Sumida River. Forty-eight smiths selected from the 277 (or according to some sources, 257) registered smiths competed to forge swords. The four smiths judged most outstanding were:

- **Mondo-no-Shō Masakiyo**: From Sanuki, known for producing over 2,000 swords in his lifetime - **Ippei Yasuyo**: Renowned as an official swordsmith to the shogunate - **4th-generation Nanki Shigekuni**: Lineage of official smiths to the Kishu Tokugawa family - **Nobukuni Shigekane**: Descendant of the Yamashiro Nobukuni school

Connection to the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō

Alongside the smith competition, Yoshimune also commissioned the compilation of the "Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō" (Kyōhō Famous Objects Register) in 1719, ordering Hon'ami Kōchū to survey and register famous swords nationwide. This register was the first systematic sword catalogue recording the location, condition, and evaluation of existing masterwork swords, and became the foundation of sword authentication and scholarship.

Encouraging active smiths through the competition and recording and preserving past masterworks through the Meibutsu-chō functioned as complementary policies. Together they formed the cultural and institutional foundation toward the late Edo sword revival movement and ultimately the birth of the Shinshin'tō era.

Historical Significance

The Kyōhō sword revival policy is positioned as organized state intervention to overcome the greatest crisis facing swordsmithing during the Edo period. While Yoshimune's initiatives were not the direct trigger for the sword revival movement leading into the Shinshin'tō era (from the Tenmei-Kansei periods onward), the significance of officially registering and honoring smiths and encouraging the transmission of smithing techniques was considerable. Today the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō is an indispensable text for documenting outstanding smiths of the era, and the surviving works of the four winning smiths remain in museums across Japan as objects of appreciation and research.