The Meiwa Great Fire of Edo and Reorganization of Edo Sword Smiths

The Great Meiwa Fire broke out at the priests' quarters of Daien-ji on the slope at Gyōninzaka in Meguro, on the afternoon of the 29th day of the 2nd month of Meiwa 9 (April 1, 1772). Driven by strong southwesterly winds, it quickly spread across a wide area of Edo. Remembered in later times as the Great Meiwa Fire or the Meguro Gyōninzaka Fire, it is counted, together with the Great Meireki Fire (Meireki 3, 1657) and the Great Bunka Fire (Bunka 3, 1806), among the three great fires of Edo.

Cause of the Fire and the Course of Its Spread

The cause of the fire is said to have been arson committed by a monk named Shinshū, an unregistered vagrant from Kumagaya in Musashi Province. He is said to have set fire to the priests' quarters of Daien-ji in order to steal, and on the 21st day of the 6th month of that same year (Meiwa 9/6/21, July 21, 1772) he was paraded through the city and executed by burning at Kozukappara. Strong southwesterly winds fanned the flames fiercely, and the fire spread from Azabu and Shiba into the urban areas east of Edo Castle, and then on to Nihonbashi, Kanda, Shitaya, Asakusa, and Senju. On the evening of the same day, the fire broke out again from Hongō. On the next day, the 30th (April 2, 1772), it seemed to have been brought under control around noon, but on the 1st day of the 3rd month (April 3, 1772) it broke out a third time from around Bakurochō, and the Nihonbashi district was destroyed.

According to the records of the damage, 934 chō (townships) were burned, 169 daimyō residences were lost, and 382 temples were affected. The dead are said to have numbered 14,700, with more than 4,000 missing. It was one of the largest fires in Edo's history, second only to the Great Meireki Fire (tens of thousands dead).

Impact on Swordsmiths

In the mid-Edo period (the Meiwa era, 1764–1772), Edo was Japan's largest city, with a population of about 1 million, and swordsmiths employed by the shogunate and daimyō households also worked there. The fire also reached urban areas with many artisans, such as Kanda and Asakusa.

What the swordsmiths lost was not only their workshops. Tools needed for forging (hearths, whetstones, water buckets, bellows, hammers, and so on) could not be replaced easily. High-quality whetstones in particular had to be obtained from specific production areas, and it was difficult to acquire them in large quantities. In some cases, ties with master lineages and fellow craftsmen were severed by the fire, and it is presumed that not a few swordsmiths faced obstacles in passing on their skills.

For swordsmiths who had lost their workshops, tools, and materials, it is thought to have been difficult to restore their former level of production in a short period.

Turning Point for Edo-Period Swordsmiths

The Meiwa era was a transitional period in which the shintō ("new swords") gave way to the shinshintō ("new-new swords"). It came just before Suishinshi Masahide appeared (he later wrote works such as Kenkō Hidenshi). The period of the great fire overlaps with a turning point for the Edo swordsmith community.

After the fire, the shogunate led the reconstruction, reviewing Edo's urban planning and advancing the development of firebreaks. The organizations of the machi-bikeshi (townsmen's fire brigades) and the daimyō-bikeshi (daimyō fire brigades) were also strengthened. Records of direct shogunate support for swordsmiths are limited, but it appears that the shogunate and the domains provided a certain degree of protection to swordsmiths in official service (goyō-tōkō).

Reconstruction and Swordsmiths

In the process of reconstruction after the fire, the locations of Edo swordsmiths' workshops also appear to have changed, but records that specifically document this are scarce.

After the Great Meiwa Fire, master smiths of the shinshintō period, such as Suishinshi Masahide (1750–1825) and Taikei Naotane (1779–1857), were active in Edo.

Cultural Loss and Memory

Records of famous swords destroyed in the fire survive only in fragments. However, it is certain that many treasures in daimyō storehouses and in samurai collections were lost in the fire, and part of the sword culture accumulated in Edo was lost forever.

In the history of Edo swordsmiths, the Great Meiwa Fire is an event that coincides in time with a turning point: "the end of the shintō period and the beginning of the shinshintō period." Afterward, through the late Edo period, master smiths of the shinshintō such as Suishinshi Masahide, Taikei Naotane, and Minamoto Kiyomaro appeared, and Edo's sword world entered a new flourishing.