Nipponto Tanrenkai

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The Nipponto Tanrenkai ("Japanese Sword and Forging Society") was created on 8 July 1933 on the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine. This forge was considered significant because for several years after the Meiji Restoration (1868) the swordmaking society which had numbered about 700 swordmakers nationwide had all but vanished and as of 1933 had only a handful of members. The most prominent men working in the field then were Gassan Sadakatsu (died 1943) Horii Toshihide (died 1943) Takahashi Yoshimune (died 1946) and his younger brother, Takahashi Sadatsugu, student of the above Gassan Sadakatsu, who later became the first living National Treasure in 1954.

Because of the death of swordsmiths, the Army was very concerned with the shortage of gunto (military swords) available for officers of the Army and accordingly in 1932-33 laid plans to establish the Nipponto Tanrenkai and on 8 July 1933 it celebrated its opening by the Minister of War General Araki Sadao granting two swordsmiths the character (kanji) YASU to:

  • Kajiyama Tokutaro (YASUTOKU) 1933
  • Miyaguchi Shigeru (YASUHIRO) 1933

There was one further swordsmith who came a little later from Yamagata Prefecture in December 1933 and this was:

  • Ikeda Shuji (YASUMITSU) 1933

This above group constituted the first generation and a further two generations gradually realized themselves until the surrender. The second generation were:

  • Kotani Kenzo (YASUNORI) 1935
  • Kajiyama Toshimichi (YASUTOSHI) 1939
  • Murakami Ensaku (YASUNOBU) 1939
  • Sato Shigeru (YASUSHIGE) 1939
  • Ajiki Harukichi (YASUYOSHI) 1940
  • Shimasaki Naoaki (YASUOKI) 1940

Lastly, the third generation:

  • Yakuwa Takeshi (YASUTAKE) 1944
  • Masuda Kaname (YASUAKI) 1944

There were two more added to this list but technically and officially speaking, should not be considered Yasukuni Shrine Smiths as they were given their swords' names after the war and, as the Nipponto Tanrenkai was dissolved by that time, cannot be considered such. Their names are for the record:

  • Onuki Hisashi (YASUHISA) Granted by General Yamaoka in December(?)1945
  • Osaki Shigeharu (YASUMUNE) Granted jointly by Shimasaki Yasuoki and Yukuwa Yasutake in May 1971

This group made approximately 8,100 swords from 1933-1945. They made all types of Katana and Tantō, but the former was very common since the focus was to make swords for officers for the Imperial Army and Navy.

There was a strict quality control implemented. This in Japanese was called a shinsa which was an examination process of four to five judges which held a judging panel twice a month on newly made swords. The swords were graded into three grades and priced accordingly. According to the ledgers in Yasukuni Swords by Tom Kishida and the article by Mr. Fujishiro in 1981's edition of Token Bijustu, the swords ranged from ¥48 to as high ¥140. As the price of a sword of the caliber of a national treasure or ones that had famous historical associations were priced at ¥300 to ¥400, a Yasukuni sword was a very expensive item indeed for a young officer.

[edit] References

  • Fujishiro,Okisato The Yasukuni Shrine Smiths, To ken Bijutsu 1981
  • Han Bing Siong, "The Significance of the Yasukuni Shrine in Contemporary Sword History", JSS/US 1992
  • Kishida, Tom, Yasukuni Swords, 2006
  • Yahya Abdelsamad, The Last Yasukuni Swordsmith, Token Bijutsu (Japanese)2006