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      JAPANESE HISTORY AND

       THE SAMURAI SWORD

      THE HISTORY of the samurai sword is closely related to the history of Japan. For that reason this brief résumé of Japanese history is included.

      THE PERIODS OF JAPANESE HISTORY

      In considering the history of Japan and the samurai sword, it is convenient to have reference points. It is possible to divide Japanese history into the following periods:

      1. ANCIENT PERIOD (before A.D. 650). Historians disagree as to the exact date, but about the same time as the beginning of the Christian Era, Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan, set out from Kyushu through the Inland Sea of Kashiwara, in Yamato Province (Fig. 1), and subjugated the hostile tribes, thereby establishing the Japanese Empire. Later, in about A.D. 284, continental culture, in the form of Confucian classics, silk culture, and the art of weapon making, was introduced directly from China or Korea.

      Fig. 1. Map of old Japanese provinces. (See page 187 for modern equivalents.)

      It is believed that there were many Chinese and Korean smiths who came to Japan and made swords. Even so, there are very few swords in existence that were made during the period in Japan or imported from the continent. Since the few extant swords from this period are similar in appearance, it is difficult to determine the locale of manufacture. Some have been unearthed from ancient tombs. They were not properly tempered, and the majority were of the straight type.

      2. NARA PERIOD (650 to 793). At the beginning of this period a permanent capital was established at Nara, in Yamato Province. Prior to this time, there had been no permanent capital, the center of government being determined by the current ruling emperor. Buddhism flourished, and this period is known as the “Golden Age” of religious art, architecture, painting, and sculpture. The Taika Reform (645), which marked the beginning of the Nara period, again established the imperial family as the absolute rulers of Japan, and new national laws were introduced. The art of sword making was still primitive and made but little progress. However, in order to equip the national army, there arose a great demand for a better sword.

      3. HEIAN PERIOD (794 to 1191). The capital was moved from Nara to Heian, or present-day Kyoto, in Yamashiro Province; and power of administration was shifted from the royal family to the Fujiwara clan, who had managed to marry their daughters into the royal family and thus had obtained control of the government. During a period of eight reigns, a total of one hundred years, the Fujiwara clan ruled as regents, and there was relative peace in the land. But the extravagance of the Fujiwaras and their costly administration of the government placed an increasing burden on the peasantry and caused them to desert their farms and crafts and become lawless highwaymen. About the year 900, taking advantage of this situation, the two samurai clans of Minamoto and Taira came to power and replaced the Fujiwaras.

      The urge for contact with China died down, perhaps because the Japanese no longer felt inferior to the Chinese. Instead, they devoted themselves, in their own way, to the improvement of their once-imported culture. The art of sword making made tremendous progress during this period, and Japanese smiths began to produce better and better swords. Samurai sword making reached its zenith during the latter half of this period.

      4. KAMAKURA PERIOD (1192 to 1336). Establishment of the shogunate, or feudal government, at Kamakura, in Sagami (Soshu) Province, by the Minamoto clan marked the beginning of the Kamakura period and 675 years of feudalism under the shogunate military supreme command, which had both administrative and judicial power. In 1274 and 1281 the Mongols, in the backwash of their invasion of Europe, attempted to invade Japan. However, they were defeated by warriors from Kamakura with the help of two sudden typhoons, which the Japanese believed were sent by the gods.

      These national emergencies demanded new and stronger types of swords. The school of smiths in Sagami Province perfected swords that have never been surpassed.

      Following the invasions and as luxury was introduced into the formerly simple samurai life, the power of the shogunate declined. Finally, the Emperor Godaigo, with the aid of the Ashikaga clan, succeeded in overthrowing the shogunate capital and regaining control of the government.

      5. MUROMACHI (ASHIKAGA) PERIOD (1337 to 1573). The Ashikaga clan betrayed the Emperor Godaigo, set up its own puppet government at Kyoto, and re-established the shogunate system. However, Godaigo escaped from the Ashikagas to the Hill of Yoshino, near Nara. For fifty-five years (1337 to 1392) there were two imperial courts in Japan. This was a dark period in Japanese history. Because the Ashikagas were never very strong, they were unable to control the provinces, and there was constant fighting between the feudal lords. This period of wars (the Sengoku period) lasted over a hundred years (1467 to 1574). The demand for swords increased, and smiths made them in great numbers throughout Japan. In Kyoto the arts flourished under the extravagant patronage of the Ashikaga shoguns, who imitated the Fujiwaras, even surpassing them in splendor and luxury.

      6. AZUCHI-MOMOYAMA PERIOD (1574 to 1602). Oda Nobunaga, a samurai of low birth, came to Kyoto at the request of the emperor to restore order, and was appointed vice-shogun. Before completing his task of unifying Japan, Nobunaga was assassinated. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nobunaga’s able lieutenant, completed the task of unification and restoring order in Japan after the long period of wars. Hideyoshi, of humble birth, was appointed regent of the empire, and all other military leaders became self-appointed daimyos, or feudal lords. Peace brought to Hideyoshi the problem of the disposition of a huge, now-unnecessary army. To put this army to use, Hideyoshi made two unsuccessful invasions of Korea and China, first in 1592 and again in 1597. During this period, Hideyoshi made his capital in Osaka. All arts, including the making of swords and mountings, flourished.

      7. EDO (TOKUGAWA) PERIOD (1603 to 1867). After Hideyoshi’s death and following the battle of Sekigahara (September 1600), power shifted from the Toyotomi clan to Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Tokugawa clan ruled all of Japan from their capital in Edo, or present-day Tokyo, for more than 250 years. At the beginning of this period, the Tokugawas, in order to perpetuate the shogunate system and make it capable of functioning smoothly under ordinary leadership, established fundamental laws for the shoguns, the nobles, and the samurais. They also adopted a closed-door policy toward foreign countries. A unique and rigid class system, which divided the people into daimyo, samurai, farmer, artisan, and merchant, was established and carried on during this period. The long and relatively peaceful Tokugawa period came to an end in the early nineteenth century, when foreign powers attempted to open Japan to outside commerce. It was at this time that the Sotozama daimyos, the descendants of the lords who had made peace with Tokugawa after the battle of Sekigahara, arose in opposition to the shogunate.

      8. MODERN PERIOD (since 1868). Emperor Meiji, the 122nd descendant of Emperor Jimmu, aided by the Sotozama daimyos, regained sovereignty from the Tokugawa clan and moved the capital to Tokyo in 1868. Shortly thereafter (1876) wearing of the sword was prohibited by national decree.

      Legend has it that the swordsmith Amakuni made the first samurai sword in Yamato about A.D. 700. Although there is no historical proof of this, the legend seems logical, since some of the earliest swords found today can be traced back to the swordsmith Yasutsana, of Hôki, and date from about 900. Amakuni was the head of a group of sword smiths who were all employed

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