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Battles, incidents, and historical events related to Japanese swords
36 events
Chōwa 5 – Manju 4 (1016–1027)
In the early eleventh century, under Fujiwara no Michinaga and his son Yorimichi, the regent-politics system reached its zenith. While aristocratic culture flourished, warriors were beginning to rise in the provinces—a period coinciding with the technological transition from the earlier warabite-tō to the curved tachi that would become the iconic Japanese sword. The end of regent politics marked the historical turning point that led to insei rule and ultimately to warrior government.
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April 28, 866 (Jōgan 8, intercalary 3rd month, 10th day)
In 866, the burning of the Ōten Gate in Heian-kyō led to the downfall and exile of Major Counselor Tomo no Yoshio. Regent Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's handling of the affair secured his position as the first subject outside the imperial family to serve as regent, marking a decisive step in the Fujiwara clan's rise to dominance over rival court families.
c. 1180–1192 CE (Jishō 4 – Kenkyū 3)
From the Jishō–Juei War (1180–1185) through the Bunji and Kenkyū eras (1185–1199), the cloistered-rule system dominated by the court nobility collapsed, and the warrior government led by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Kamakura shogunate, reshaped Japan's system of rule.
15th day of the 10th month, Eiroku 8 (1565) — the date traditionally given for Obu Toramasa's death; Yoshinobu was confined at Tōkō-ji and died in 1567
In 1565 (Eiroku 8), Takeda Shingen's heir Yoshinobu was confined at Tōkō-ji over an alleged plot, and his guardian Obu Toramasa took his own life. The affair is understood against the shift in Takeda diplomacy after Okehazama and the changing relationship with the Imagawa. Yoshinobu died two years later.
Eiroku 11 (1568), 9th month 7th day to 10th month 18th day (old calendar)
How Oda Nobunaga set out from Gifu in 1568 with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, drove the Rokkaku out of southern Omi, pushed the Miyoshi forces out of the home provinces and saw Yoshiaki installed as the 15th Muromachi shogun. The article follows the dates from their July meeting through the September march to the shogunal appointment on the 18th day of the 10th month.
8th month, Shōchō 1 (1428) – Shōchō 2 (1429)
In the 8th month of Shōchō 1 (1428), beginning with the bashaku uprising in Ōmi, a large-scale tsuchi ikki spread to Kyoto and the Kinai region, the first large-scale tsuchi ikki in Japanese history. Peasants and bashaku (packhorse carriers) demanded tokusei (debt cancellation) and attacked dosō (pawnbrokers) and sakaya. The shogunate sought to suppress it through Akamatsu Mitsusuke, but in Nara Kōfuku-ji came to approve tokusei. A monumental incident in which organized armed action by the common people first appeared in history.
1958 (Showa 33)
The Firearms and Swords Control Law of 1958 generally prohibits possession of swords but allows swords of artistic value to be owned if registered with a prefectural board of education. It is the foundation of the system under which postwar Japanese swords circulate as registered art objects.
October 14–25, 1873 (Meiji 6)
The 1873 crisis in which the government split over sending an envoy to Korea, the cabinet meetings broke down in October, and the five councillors Saigō Takamori, Itagaki Taisuke, Gotō Shōjirō, Etō Shinpei and Soejima Taneomi resigned. The article follows the dates from the caretaker government during the Iwakura Mission to the October events and their consequences for the samurai rebellions and the freedom and popular rights movement.
9th day of the 8th month, Meiji 4 (23 September 1871)
On the 9th day of the 8th month of Meiji 4 (23 September 1871) the Dajokan made hairstyles a matter of personal choice and made it optional for nobles and former samurai to go without swords. It was a permission rather than a mandate, unlike the Haitorei of 1876.
Meiō 2 (1493)
In 1493, the kanrei Hosokawa Masamoto deposed Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiki and installed a puppet in his place. This coup effectively ended the authority of the Muromachi shogunate and is considered the moment the Sengoku period truly began.
19 November 1392 (Meitoku 3, intercalary 10th month, day 5)
On 19 November 1392 (Meitoku 3, intercalary 10th month, day 5), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu brokered the transfer of the Three Sacred Treasures from Emperor Go-Kameyama to Emperor Go-Komatsu, ending the 56-year division of the Northern and Southern Courts. In the history of Japanese swords, this marked the end of the era of the ōdachi and mass production during the Nanboku-chō period, and the beginning of an age under Yoshimitsu's cultural patronage in which swords shifted from weapons to works of art and diplomatic gifts.
15th day of 7th month, Bunroku 4 (August 20, 1595)
Toyotomi Hidetsugu, nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Kampaku, was accused of plotting rebellion and ordered to commit seppuku. His wives, concubines, and children, 39 people in all, were executed at Sanjō riverbank. The tragedy symbolized the power struggle that foreshadowed Sekigahara.
28th day of the 11th month, Bunji 1 (1185)
In 1185, Minamoto no Yoritomo received imperial authorization to appoint military governors (shugo) and estate stewards (jitō) throughout Japan, establishing the effective foundation of the Kamakura Shogunate—Japan's first warrior government. This shift, placing samurai at the apex of political power for the first time, created the cultural conditions in which the Japanese sword became revered as the soul and symbol of the warrior.
18th day, 8th month, Bunkyū 3 (September 30, 1863)
On September 30, 1863 (Bunkyū 3/8/18), the Satsuma and Aizu domains, acting together, carried out a coup that expelled the radical sonnō-jōi faction centered on the Chōshū domain from Kyoto. Also called the "Bunkyū Coup," it set off the "Flight of the Seven Nobles" (Shichikyō-ochi), in which Sanjō Sanetomi and six other court nobles fled to Chōshū. As a coup that profoundly changed bakumatsu politics, it led on to the Kinmon Incident and the Chōshū expeditions.
Bunkyū 3 (1863)
Formed in the 3rd year of Bunkyū (1863) from the rōshi band that the bakufu had recruited, the Shinsengumi stayed in Kyoto and was placed under the protection of the Aizu Domain, which held the post of Kyoto Shugoshoku (Kyoto Military Governor). It was a band of swordsmen that suppressed sonnō jōi shishi in Kyoto during the bakumatsu period. Under its kyokuchō (commander) Kondō Isami and fukuchō (deputy commander) Hijikata Toshizō, its members were feared for their unmatched elite swordsmanship and strict rules. As the period when the Japanese sword was last used in real combat, it holds a special place in the history of bakumatsu swordsmanship.
15th day, 1st month, Bunkyū 2 (February 13, 1862)
On February 13, 1862 (Bunkyū 2/1/15), six Mito rōnin attacked Andō Nobumasa, a senior councilor (rōjū), outside the Sakashitamon Gate of Edo Castle. Though Nobumasa survived with minor wounds, the incident demonstrated the rising power of the sonnō-jōi faction and the weakening of bakufu authority, becoming a major political upheaval. The direct motivation is attributed to opposition to the kōbu gattai policy brought about by the imperial princess Kazunomiya's marriage to Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi.
c. 1596 (Keichō 1)
Around Keichō 1 (1596), Toyotomi Hideyoshi appointed Honami Kōtoku as “touken kiwamedokoro” (sword authentication office) and officially sanctioned a system of sword appraisal and valuation by origami (folded appraisal certificates). Origami issued by the Honami family served as official appraisal documents recording the smith’s inscription, dimensions and appraised value (daitsuke). They laid the foundation for the later compilation of the Kyōhō Meibutsu Chō and for modern sword authentication systems.
25th day of the 7th month, Keichō 5 (1600)
In the 7th month of 1600, on the eve of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu convened a war council at Oyama in Shimotsuke Province. Securing the loyalty of eastern lords including Fukushima Masanori, he pivoted from the Aizu campaign to confronting the Western Army — a turning point that determined the fate of Japan.
13th day of the intercalary 6th month, Keicho 20 (7 August 1615)
Issued by the Edo shogunate in the intercalary sixth month of 1615, just after the Summer Siege of Osaka, it ordered daimyo to dismantle all castles but their seat. Some 400 castles are said to have been razed, sharply reducing the number of castles.
Keicho 20 / Genna 1 (1615)
In 1615 the Toyotomi fell in the Summer Siege of Osaka, and the era name was changed from Keicho to Genna the same year. Called Genna Engu, 'the laying down of arms', it is regarded as the starting point of some 250 years of peace.
21st day of the 1st month, Keiō 2 (1866)
On the 21st day of the 1st month of Keiō 2 (March 7, 1866), a secret military agreement was concluded between the Satsuma and Chōshū clans through the mediation of Sakamoto Ryōma and Nakaoka Shintarō. One of the most influential political alliances in Japanese history, it enabled the overthrow of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.
28th day of the 7th month, Juei 2 (1183, old calendar)
On the 28th day of the 7th month of Juei 2 (1183), three days after the Taira left the capital, Kiso Yoshinaka entered Kyoto together with Minamoto no Yukiie. The article follows his road from the uprising to the victory at Kurikara Pass, the order to destroy the Taira given at Renge-ō-in, the ranking of merit, and the breakdown of order and of relations with Go-Shirakawa that followed.
25th day of the 7th month, Juei 2 (1183, old calendar)
On the 25th day of the 7th month of Juei 2 (1183), with the forces of Kiso Yoshinaka and Minamoto no Yukiie closing in, Taira no Munemori set fire to Rokuhara and left Kyoto with Emperor Antoku and the Three Sacred Treasures. The article follows the flight, Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa's refusal to join it, the accession of Emperor Go-Toba, and the loss of the sacred sword at Dan-no-ura.
1858–1859 (Ansei 5–6)
In 1858–1859, Tairō Ii Naosuke launched a sweeping purge of opponents who contested the shogunate's succession dispute and the Harris Treaty with the United States. Over 100 activists, scholars and daimyo were punished; Yoshida Shōin and Hashimoto Sanai were executed. The crackdown directly provoked the Sakuradamon assassination of Ii in 1860.