* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Taisho Democracy and Japanese Swords
大正デモクラシーと刀剣
Amid the liberalist atmosphere of the Taisho Democracy, the Japanese sword underwent a process of redefinition from a militaristic symbol to a cultural heritage. Approximately forty years after the Edict of Sword Abolition (1876), collector culture matured while embryonic preservation movements for the Japanese sword emerged, and this diverse era witnessed the formation of a modern framework for sword culture.
Description
The Complexity of the Taisho Era
In July of Meiji 45 (1912), the Meiji Emperor passed away, the Taisho Emperor ascended the throne, and the Taisho era began. The era known as Taisho Democracy was noted as a period when liberalist political and social movements—including universal suffrage movements, labor movements, and women's liberation movements—became active. Yet at the same time, it also harbored contradictory currents: the increase in influence of the military and the emergence of nationalist tendencies. Within the context of this complex era, the cultural significance of the Japanese sword also fluctuated.
From the Edict of Sword Abolition (Meiji 9, 1876) to the Taisho era, approximately thirty-five to fifty years had elapsed. Due to the dissolution of the samurai class and the Edict of Sword Abolition, the Japanese sword had completely lost its status as an everyday portable weapon. However, simultaneously, this situation of being "separated from everyday life" paradoxically promoted the reevaluation of the Japanese sword as a cultural property and work of art. The Taisho era stood at the very center of a historical turning point where swords were reconceived not as "dangerous weapons" but as "the cultural heritage of the nation."
The Maturation of Collector Culture
Businessmen, politicians, and cultural figures who had accumulated wealth during the Meiji period began earnestly pursuing the collection of famous swords as a cultural pursuit during the Taisho period. The activities of sword appraisers descended from the Honami lineage and sword merchants (katanaya) became increasingly active, and regular sword exhibitions and exchange meetings began to be held in urban areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
Particularly important in the collector culture of the Taisho period was the formation of the legal concept of National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, and the designation of swords as cultural assets. The Preservation Law for Historic Temples and Shrines of Meiji 30 (1897) was the first modern legal system protecting the fine and decorative arts transmitted through temples and shrines, and many famous swords became subject to legal protection as "ancient artworks." During the Taisho period, this system was further refined, and opportunities for swords to be publicly exhibited in museums increased. Sword exhibitions at the Imperial Museum (now the Tokyo National Museum) became increasingly enriched throughout the Taisho period, and scholarly interest in swords grew among the intellectual classes.
The Circumstances of Swordsmiths and the Revival Movement
The world of swordsmiths, which had suffered devastating blows from the Edict of Sword Abolition and the civilization and enlightenment movement of the Meiji period, began to show signs of gradual recovery from the late Meiji through the Taisho period. Demand from the Army and Navy for military swords (as formal ceremonial blades) secured certain commissions, and commissions from civilian enthusiasts, though limited in number, did exist. However, the level fell far short of the Edo period, and the transmission of techniques was in a critical state.
Particularly noteworthy during this period was the continuation and deepening of the movement advocating "revival of ancient sword techniques." The attempts to transmit ancient sword-forging techniques that Gassan Sadakazu and others had maintained with great difficulty during the Meiji period continued on a small scale during the Taisho period. In particular, the distinctive forged grain pattern called "ayasugi-hada," transmitted by the Gassan school—one of the most distinctive metal grain techniques dating back to ancient times—attracted the attention of scholars and enthusiasts during the Taisho period, and its preservation and transmission began to be consciously discussed.
The Emergence of the Japanese Sword Preservation Movement
The Taisho period holds important significance as the embryonic period of organized Japanese sword preservation movements. As the spiritual preparation phase for the NBTHK (Society for Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, founded in 1948), which became fully operational during the Showa period, informal networks began to form during the Taisho period where scholars, enthusiasts, and swordsmiths exchanged information. The establishment of academic and social infrastructure—including the founding of specialized sword journals, the publication of sword research works, and the positioning of sword studies within university research on Japanese art history—gradually progressed throughout the Taisho period.
Furthermore, Japan's entry into World War I (1914–1918) on the side of the Allied Powers and the subsequent expansion of its international influence heightened international interest in Japanese culture. During the Taisho period, fine and decorative arts from Japan began to be actively exported to the art markets of Europe and America, and swords also flowed overseas in part through this route. This outflow became the starting point for the formation of important sword collections now housed abroad, and holds historical significance as the embryonic period of the international presence of the Japanese sword.
The Cultural Legacy of the Taisho Period
The open cultural atmosphere of Taisho Democracy enabled the coexistence of multiple values regarding the Japanese sword. Multiple contexts coexisted during the Taisho period: for military officers and right-wing ideologues, the "symbol of Japanese spirit"; for businessman collectors, "fine art"; for scholars, "an object of scholarly study"; and for craft artisans, "the crystallization of traditional technique." This very diversity was the richness of Taisho-period sword culture, and represented the final pluralistic manifestation of sword culture before it was subsumed into the militaristic monolithic context of the subsequent Showa period.
Characteristics of This Era
- Designation as Cultural Asset After the Sword Abolition Edict: In the Taisho era, thirty-five to fifty years after the Edict of Sword Abolition, the Japanese sword lost its status as an everyday weapon and was instead reevaluated as "the cultural heritage of the nation" and "fine art." This transformation formed the basic framework of modern Japanese sword culture.
- Comprehensive Maturation of Collector Culture: Businessmen and politicians who accumulated wealth during the Meiji period began earnestly participating in the collection of famous swords, and regular sword exhibitions and exchange meetings were held in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The maturation of collector culture in the Taisho era established the foundation of the modern sword market.
- Development of Cultural Asset Protection Legislation: The legal framework for cultural asset protection, beginning with the Preservation Law for Historic Temples and Shrines in Meiji 30 (1897), was further developed during the Taisho era, and many famous swords came to receive legal protection as formal cultural assets. This system became the precursor to the present-day National Treasure and Important Cultural Property designation system.
- Crisis and Tenuous Transmission of Swordsmith Tradition: Amid the difficult conditions following the Sword Abolition Edict, the transmission of ancient sword-forging techniques by the Gassan school and individual master smiths continued on a limited basis. This thin thread guaranteed an important technical continuity that would lead to revival and modern swordsmith culture in the Showa era.
- The Beginning of International Circulation of Japanese Swords: The era when Japanese swords began to flow overseas due to Japan's elevated international status following World War I and the activation of European and American art markets. This flow became the starting point for the formation of important collections now held abroad.
- Coexistence of Pluralistic Cultural Meanings: Multiple cultural contexts coexisted in the Taisho era—the military's "symbol of Japanese spirit," the collector's "fine art," the scholar's "object of study," and the craftsman's "traditional technique." This was the final era of diversity before the militaristic unification of the subsequent Showa period.