Shintō, Kotetsu, Shinshintō, and the Haitōrei — 300 Years from Edo to Meiji

Shintō — The New Era Beginning at Keichō

Swords from Keichō (1596-1615) onward are called “shintō” (“new blades”), and everything earlier is called “kotō” (“old blades”). The boundary is generally placed at Keichō 1 (1596) or Keichō 5 (1600). Four reasons for the split:

• Change of material — Alongside tatara iron, nanban-tetsu (imported iron) is now mixed in
• Unification of style — Regional flavor fades, and the styles of the central cities (Edo, Kyoto, Osaka) become mainstream
• Change of form — Wider body, shorter length, and shallower sori of the “Keichō shintō” taihai
• From mass production to a fine-art orientation — The sword culture of an age of peace

With the founding of the Edo shogunate and the age of peace, the sword shifted from weapon to symbol of the samurai’s soul, and to a work of fine art.

The Three Great Producing Cities of Shintō

Three urban centers of smithing arose in the shintō era: Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka:

Edo shintō

• Horikawa Kunihiro — Regarded as the founder of shintō. Lived at Horikawa in Kyoto. “Yamanbagiri Kunihiro” (Important Cultural Property)
• Echizen Yasutsugu — Retained smith of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada. The “Yasu” of Yasutsugu is a name granted by Ieyasu. Permitted to cut the hollyhock crest into the nakago
• Izumi-no-kami Kaneshige — Said to have been Kotetsu’s teacher
• Nagasone Kotetsu — Pinnacle of Edo shintō (below)

Osaka shintō

• Inoue Shinkai — Called “the Osaka Masamune.” Set apart by the fineness of his jigane
• Tsuda Sukehiro — Originated the tōran-ba — a wave-like broad gunome-midare
• Izumi-no-kami Kunisada (I) — Father of Shinkai and teacher of Sukehiro

Kyoto shintō

• Horikawa school — Kunihiro’s disciples
• Iga-no-kami Kinmichi — Granted the title “Nihon Kaji Sōshō” (“Master Smith of Japan”) by the imperial court
• Umetada Myōju — Yamashiro master, also a mounts-metalworker

Kanbun Shintō Taihai — Into the Age of Foot-Fencing

In the Kanbun era (1661-1673), a distinctive taihai was in vogue:

• Shallow sori
• Standard body width
• Slightly extended kissaki
• Chū-kissaki

This taihai is common to Kotetsu in Edo and Shinkai / Sukehiro in Osaka. It is said to have been shaped by the rise of dojo fencing and its training practice. From the “tachi on horseback” of the Heian and Kamakura, to the “uchigatana on foot” of the Sengoku, to the “dojo sword” of Edo — three stages of taihai.

Nagasone Kotetsu — From Armorer to the Peak of Edo Shintō

Nagasone Kotetsu Okisato was active in the second half of the 17th century. He is the pinnacle of shintō-era Edo, “wazamono of wazamono,” and to this day one of the most beloved names among Japanese sword lovers.

An unusual career

• Born into an armor-making family in Echizen province (present Fukui)
• Around age 50, stopped making armor and turned to swordmaking
• Moved to Edo around Meireki 2 (1656)
• With a short output span (~20 years), was rated the best of his day
• One of the 14 Saijō Ōwazamono

Signature changes — “Okisato → Kotetsu (古鉄) → Kotetsu (乕徹) → Kotetsu (虎徹)”

Kotetsu changed his signature style through his career, and the style helps date his work:

1. Okisato — Armor-making years
2. Kotetsu (古鉄) — Meireki–Manji era, his earliest smith signature
3. Kotetsu (乕徹) — Middle period; “乕” is a variant of “虎”
4. Kotetsu (虎徹) — Peak period

Character of Kotetsu’s work

• Jigane — Ko-itame-hada well knit; incomparably fine. The “Kotetsu jigane” was itself prized
• Hamon — Juzu-ba (rosary hamon), hyōtan-ba (gourd hamon), suguha-based (late)
• Nie is bright, strong, and full of energy

Fakes, and Kondō Isami’s Kotetsu

“When you see a Kotetsu, assume it is a fake” — a proverb from the Edo era. Because of his fame, counterfeits are extremely common. Kondō Isami, chief of the Shinsengumi, is said to have carried a Kotetsu, but whether it was authentic or a fake is disputed.

Shiba Ryōtarō’s [Moeyo Ken] famously invented the line “Tonight the Kotetsu thirsts for blood” — a fictional line, but one that spread Kotetsu’s name widely in the general public.

Provincial Shintō — The National Spread of the Domain Smiths

Each domain maintained a retained smith, and regional styles flourished:

• Hizen Tadayoshi — Hizen (Saga domain), known as “Hizen-tō”
• Sendai Kunikane — Sendai domain, Yamato tradition, Saijō Ōwazamono
• Satsuma Naminohira — Satsuma domain
• Mikawa Monju — Mikawa province

The domain-smith system continued into the Meiji Restoration. Each domain developed its own house style.

Shinshintō — Revival Beginning at Anei

Swords from Anei (1772-) onward, through the late Edo and the Bakumatsu, are called “shinshintō.” They constitute the third era after kotō and shintō.

Historical background

• A decline of the sword in the age of peace — Distant from real combat, techniques became formalized
• The push for reinforced defense — Kansei reforms, Morrison Incident, Perry’s arrival
• Revivalism — Influenced by kokugaku and Mito-gaku, longing for the kotō
• The upheavals of the Bakumatsu — Demand for practical blades from shishi and shogunate retainers

Suishinshi Masahide — Founder of the Shinshintō

Suishinshi Masahide, real name Kawabe Gihachirō. From Dewa province, he moved to Edo. Lamenting the formalization of shintō and its inability to reach kotō quality, he called for a study and revival of kotō methods.

Works:

• [Tōken Hidenshi]
• [Shintō Bengi] — Critique of shintō and praise of kotō
• [Kenkō Hidenshi]

Through these, a movement to reexamine the smithing methods of the Sōshū, Bizen, and Yamato traditions and other kotō schools spread widely, decisively shaping the character of the shinshintō era.

Great Smiths of the Shinshintō

Taikei Naotane

Chief disciple of Suishinshi Masahide. Master of Sōden-Bizen — a fusion of Bizen and Sōshū — able to shift between exuberant chōji-midare and a spirited midareba.

Minamoto Kiyomaro — “The Yotsuya Masamune”

The greatest smith of the shinshintō era. Real name Yamaura Kuranosuke. From Akaiwa in Shinshū, he lived at Yotsuya in Edo, whence the name “Yotsuya Masamune.” Master of Sōshū copies, whose finest work was said to rival Masamune himself.

But he was a temperamental genius who drank hard, ran up debts, and took his own life in Kaei 7 (1854) at age 42. His small output is uniformly outstanding. Kiyomaro is passed down as the tragic master smith of his era.

Koyama Munetsugu

A leading Edo shinshintō. From Shirakawa in Mutsu province, later Edo. Renowned for cutting performance, he left many sharp, practical blades.

Blades of the Bakumatsu Loyalists

Amid the Bakumatsu upheavals, each domain ordered its retained smith to produce blades for the coming trouble:

• Hijikata Toshizō — Izumi-no-kami Kanesada (eleventh-generation Aizu Kanesada) — a different smith with the same name as Nosada
• Okita Sōji — Kashū Kiyomitsu, Kikuichimonji Norimune (by tradition)
• Sakamoto Ryōma — Mutsu-no-kami Yoshiyuki (Tosa)
• Katsura Kogorō (Kido Takayoshi) — Hizen Tadahiro
• Kurihara Nobuhide, disciple of Minamoto Kiyomaro — carried the Sōshū style after Kiyomaro
• Gassan Sadakazu — of the Yamato Gassan school, still active into the Meiji era

1876 — The Shock of the Haitōrei

On March 28, Meiji 9 (1876), the Haitōrei was promulgated:

Except for those in court dress and for military and police in uniform, the wearing of swords is forbidden

Meaning: outside of soldiers and police in uniform, the wearing of swords was banned. Ordinary people (former samurai included) were forbidden to wear a sword. Ōkubo Toshimichi drove the change.

Consequences

• Loss of the samurai’s symbol — The sword, the “samurai’s soul,” was taken away, and shizoku lost their central spiritual support
• Loss of smiths’ livelihoods — With the disappearance of daimyō and samurai patronage, the thousands of smiths across the country fell to a few dozen
• Mass disposal of kotō blades — Old blades were sold at throwaway prices, and many flowed overseas
• Satsuma Rebellion (1877) — The final resistance of the samurai class

Shinpūren Rebellion (October 1876)

Reacting to the Haitōrei, the Shinpūren Rebellion broke out in Kumamoto. About 170 shizoku under Ōtaguro Tomoo attacked the Kumamoto garrison armed with only swords and spears. Momentarily successful, then crushed. It kindled the coming Hagi Rebellion and the Satsuma Rebellion.

Realities of unemployment among smiths

• Kitchen knives and small blades — Transition to daily-use blades (the Seki blade industry)
• Farm tools — Sickles, hoes, spades
• Complete abandonment — Loss of technique
• Emigration — Even some emigration to Hawaii

Imperial Household Artist — A Thin Thread of Technique

In Meiji 23 (1890), the government created the Imperial Household Artist system to protect traditional-crafts technique. Smiths appointed included:

• Gassan Sadakazu — Appointed Meiji 39 (1906), Osaka
• Miyamoto Kanenori — Appointed Meiji 39 (1906), Tottori

They took charge of the imperial ceremonial blades and passed on a thin thread of technique into the next generation. One of the few routes that survived the Meiji–Taishō rupture.

Shōwa-Era Army Swords

Early Meiji navy and army had adopted the saber-style army sword (straight, western mounts). In the Shōwa era, this returned to Japanese-sword form:

• 1934 (Shōwa 9) — Army Type 94 gunt̄o, in tachi mounts
• 1938 (Shōwa 13) — Type 98 guntō, officers’ standard
• 1940 (Shōwa 15) — Type 95 guntō, for non-commissioned officers

Blades for these army swords included:

• Shortened kotō and shintō masterpieces mounted in military fittings
• Newly made army-sword blades, practical
• Shōwa-tō — machine-forged, oil-quenched; unlike a true Japanese sword
• Yasukuni-tō — Blades made at the smithy in the Yasukuni Shrine precincts, signed “Yasumitsu” and the like

1945 — GHQ Confiscation and the Rescue

After defeat in Shōwa 20 (1945), the GHQ, as part of demilitarization, banned possession of swords.

Realities of confiscation

• Confiscation of hundreds of thousands to millions of blades nationwide
• Most were smelted or destroyed
• Some were carried home by US soldiers as trophies, flowing overseas
• Even National Treasure-class blades were at risk

The rescue by Honma Junji and Satō Kanzan

Sword scholars Honma Junji and Satō Kanzan negotiated with GHQ, arguing “the Japanese sword is a work of fine art,” and won protection for artistically valuable blades. Without their intervention, many of today’s masterworks would have been lost.

The 1950 Registration System

In Shōwa 25 (1950), the Cultural Properties Protection Law was enacted, and together with the Firearms and Swords Possession Control Law established the Registered Art Sword system. This is the modern framework: swords possessing artistic merit may be owned if registered.

Blades Overseas

Confiscation and trophies sent tens of thousands of blades out of Japan, primarily to the United States. Representative examples:

• Honda Mino-no-kami Masanari — Handed down in the Tokugawa house, flowed overseas, then returned
• Japanese blades in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Metropolitan Museum, and other American museums

In recent years, examples of blades returning home through overseas collectors’ estate auctions have increased. Setouchi City’s 2020 purchase of the Yamatorige Ichimonji for 500 million yen was one such symbolic case of a return.

From This Article to the Next

We have traced 300 years from shintō through the Haitōrei. The next article — the last of the series — turns to the modern smiths and the Touken Ranbu boom. The postwar Important Intangible Cultural Property designation (Living National Treasure), the modern institutional framework of “500 blades a year,” and, in 2015, the phenomenon of young people (especially women) flooding museums after the release of Touken Ranbu. The final article of the katana series — how has a 1000-year lineage been carried into the present?