Page 118 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

With the exception of some experimentation with flint, percussion, breech-loading, and even air guns,

the limited armories of the daimyo held matchlock guns, which were never used in over two and a half
centuries. The sword was the premier symbol of the whole system of government and gave such pres-
tige to the bearer as would allow him to feel a proud part of the system that controlled him so utterly.
The Keichô era (1596 -1614) is recognized as the start of the new swords or shinto era. The new
swords movement started in Kyoto, where specialists like the Hon'ami family cut down the long swords
of the Kamakura period to a convenient length for wearing in the town style — that is, thrust through
the belt with the cutting edge uppermost. Umetada Myóju made swords in the old Yamashiro (Kyoto) and
Soshü (Kamakura) styles and specialized in carving on the flat of the blades. Shinano no Kami Kunihiro,
from Hyüga province in Kyushu, worked at Horigawa in Kyoto and nurtured many pupils whose descen- 117
dants continued for generations. Whereas these smiths sold their swords for a living, many smiths
obtained appointments to the daimyo in the new castle towns. A swordsmith who had moved from
Shimosaka in Edo to Echizen province was summoned back in 1606 to work for the armies of both
leyasu and the second shogun, Hidetada.The smith received his name, Yasutsugu (the yasu from leyasu),
and the right to carve the Tokugawa crest, a triple hollyhock leaf, on the tangs of his blades. His family
continued in Edo for several generations. Yamashiro no Kami Kunikane made swords with a straight
grain in the old Yamato style for the Date clan in Sendai. Etchü no Kami Takahira, later called Kanewaka,

worked in Etchú for the Maeda clan. Nanki Shigekuni worked for the Tokugawa branch in Kii province,
Nobutaka and Masatsune for the Owari Tokugawa branch, and Tadayoshi for the Nabeshima clan in
Hizen province.
With the establishment of the alternate-attendance system in 1635 and the strengthening of
control by the central government in Edo, the demand for swords died out in Kyoto, and the smiths
moved, some to the provinces, some to nearby Osaka, and some to Edo. The smiths who flourished in
Osaka at this time made blades with contrived hamon in exuberant forms, like the bamboo curtain
of Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi, the fist-shaped cluster of clover flowers of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke,
and the billowing waves of Tsuta Echizen no Kami Sukehiro (cat. 64). Sukehiro was born in 1637 in
the town of Ashiya, which was renowned for ironwork, particularly kettles for the tea ceremony. Named
Kan-no-Jó at birth, he studied under Soboro Sukehiro, whose adopted son he became. When his master
died in 1655, Kan-no-Jô took the name Sukehiro, and within two years, at the age of twenty-one, he was
retained by Aoyama Inaba no Kami Munetoshi, lord of Osaka Castle. Sukehiro died at the age of forty-
two, but he left a great number of excellent blades. His forging grain is a tight and even small-plank
grain (koitame), and the hamon of his work is rich in bright crystals of nie. His swords are characteristic
of Osaka work, and he ranks with Inoue Shinkai, also of Osaka, and Kotetsu of Edo as one of the mas-
ter smiths of the mid-seventeenth century.
The Osaka smiths found many clients for their flamboyant work among the merchants of the
city, who were allowed to wear a short sword. The work of the Edo smiths tended to be more somber,
and the underlying serious purpose of the blades was made clear by the dreadful practice of having them
tested at the public execution ground, when the result of the test might be inlaid in a gold inscription
on the tang.