* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Army-Commissioned Swordsmith System and Yasukuni Swords
陸軍受命刀工制度と靖国刀
Two arrangements the Army used to secure military swords in the prewar and wartime Showa era: the Army-commissioned swordsmiths (rikugun jumei tōshō), recognized after their blades passed testing at an Army arsenal, and the production of 'Yasukuni swords' by the Nihonto Tanren Kai (Japanese Sword Forging Association), founded on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in 1933. About 8,100 Yasukuni swords were made by the end of the war.
Description
Historical Background
As demand for military swords surged in the Showa era, uneven quality became a problem, and efforts were made to secure swords forged by traditional methods. In July 1933 the Nihonto Tanren Kai (Japanese Sword Forging Association) was organized as a foundation under Army Minister Araki Sadao, and with the cooperation of the sword world and the Army a forge was set up on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Swords made there were called "Yasukuni-tō" (also "Kudan-tō"), the smiths who worked there were known as "Yasukuni swordsmiths," and their art names began with the character yasu from Yasukuni.
Army-Commissioned Swordsmiths
Separately from the Yasukuni swordsmiths, the Army recognized independent smiths as "Army-commissioned swordsmiths" (rikugun jumei tōshō). A smith is said to have sent the blades he made to an Army arsenal and to have been recognized once they passed its tests. The "Army-standard modern forged swords" made by commissioned smiths carried the smith's signature and a date on the tang, along with a star stamp indicating Army inspection. Some smiths making blades for military use are also reported to have been required to pass durability tests using a drop apparatus.
Yasukuni Swords and Production Output
At the Yasukuni Shrine forge, blades were made by traditional forging from tamahagane produced at the Yasukuni tatara in Izumo. About 8,100 Yasukuni swords are said to have been made by the end of the war; unlike mass-produced military swords they followed the traditional process of the Japanese sword, and collectors and researchers still treat them as a distinct group.
Historical Significance
Some smiths who worked during the war were later recognized as Living National Treasures (holders of Important Intangible Cultural Properties). Miyairi Akihira (later Yukihira) of Sakaki, Nagano Prefecture, entered Kurihara Hikosaburō's Japanese Sword Forging Training Institute in 1937, and from 1940 he won repeated awards at the New Japanese Sword Exhibition. After the war he helped rebuild the craft and was designated a Living National Treasure in 1963 (in the sword field, following Takahashi Sadatsugu's designation in 1955). The Army-commissioned swordsmiths and the Nihonto Tanren Kai are seen as a transitional chapter in modern sword history, in which traditional forging skills were carried on amid wartime mass production.
Characteristics of This Era
- Yasukuni swords made by the Yasukuni swordsmiths of the Nihonto Tanren Kai (founded 1933 on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine)
- Army-commissioned swordsmiths, recognized after their blades passed testing at an Army arsenal
- Traditional forging from Yasukuni tatara tamahagane (about 8,100 Yasukuni swords by war's end)