Occupation Period and Sword Preservation

Defeat and Disarmament: A Crisis for the Sword

The occupation period (1945–1952) under the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP), beginning with the end of the war on 15 August 1945, was the greatest crisis in the history of the Japanese sword. GHQ regarded the Japanese sword as a symbol of Japan's militarist spirit and, as part of its disarmament directives, ordered the confiscation and destruction of Japanese swords.

From September 1945 (Shōwa 20) onward, a nationwide 'sword hunt' was carried out. Swords kept in households were requested for surrender and brought to police stations and occupation forces facilities, and many of the swords so brought were ordered destroyed. Swords seized from private homes in the Kantō and Tōkai regions and gathered at the US military ordnance depot in Akabane, Tokyo, alone exceeded 200,000 (the Akabane blades), and among them were not a few swords of significant artistic and historical value.

Smiths were also subject to strict restrictions. Sword manufacture was in principle prohibited, and during the postwar recovery many smiths lost their livelihoods, facing the serious crisis of a break in the transmission of skills. In the Shōwa 20s, there was a strong sense of alarm that the sword-smithing techniques built up over hundreds of years might be lost entirely.

The Beginning of the Sword Preservation Movement

Amid this hopeless situation, a movement of volunteers arose to protect the Japanese sword as cultural property. Sword researchers, collectors and people connected with sword smithing continued persistent negotiations with GHQ, opening a path to incorporate the Japanese sword into the framework of cultural property protection by positioning it as an 'art craft object'.

The most important point in negotiations with GHQ was to explain that the Japanese sword was not merely a weapon but a unique Japanese art object with a history of more than a thousand years, and to have its cultural and scholarly value recognized. This effort achieved a certain result, and a path opened by which swords of value as art objects could be exempted from confiscation.

Establishment of NBTHK and Institutional Development

In February 1948 (Shōwa 23), the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (NBTHK), the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, was established with the aim of preserving, studying and popularizing the Japanese sword. While taking over the appraisal function that the Hon'ami family had performed in the Edo period, NBTHK promoted the revival of Japanese sword culture through a modern organizational structure.

NBTHK began sword appraisal examinations in 1948, the same year it was founded. As for possession of swords, under the Firearms and Swords Control Law (Jūtōhō) enacted later in 1958, only swords that had been registered could be legally possessed and circulated. This registration certificate (tōroku-sho) system continues today and forms the basis for the legal possession of Japanese swords.

Of the swords seized, about 5,600 blades of high artistic value were returned to Japan in 1947 through the efforts of those concerned. However, what was returned was only a small part of the swords that had been confiscated; the great majority were destroyed or taken to America. One reason that many Japanese swords now exist in the hands of private American collectors and museums lies in this confiscation and outflow during the occupation period.

Transmission of Smithing Skills and Revival

In 1954 (Shōwa 29), restrictions on sword manufacture were eased, and it became possible to make art swords as cultural properties. As a result, smiths who had been forced to close their workshops were able to resume forging. Pioneers of modern smiths, including Miyairi Yukihira and others, devoted themselves to reviving and passing on the craft during this period.

However, the effects of more than seven years of manufacturing prohibition and restrictions were severe. Many veteran smiths died during this period, and there were not a few cases in which the transmission of skills to apprentices was cut off. In addition, production of tamahagane (the steel from tatara iron smelting) had also ceased, so securing good material became a major challenge as well. Full-scale resumption of tamahagane production had to wait until the establishment of Nittōho Tatara in 1977.

Historical Significance of the Occupation Period

Paradoxically, the trials of the occupation period resulted in legally clarifying the status of the Japanese sword as cultural property. Through the process of negotiation with GHQ and legislative development, the definition that 'the Japanese sword is an art craft object' was institutionalized, becoming the legal and institutional foundation for the development of Japanese sword culture thereafter. The establishment of NBTHK is one of the most important legacies of this era and laid the foundation of today's Japanese sword culture.

The experience of the occupation period also instilled among Japanese sword enthusiasts a strong sense of mission to 'protect sword culture.' Gratitude toward the predecessors who worked for sword preservation in this era, and a sense of responsibility to pass their legacy on to the next generation, form the spiritual pillar that modern sword collectors should share. The recognition that collecting and appreciating Japanese swords is not merely a personal hobby but also a practice of cultural property protection is rooted here.