Pacific Asia Museum to Exhibit Top Level Swords, Mar. 17 - Jun. 19

Cultural News, February 2005

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Yoshihara Yoshindo forging a sword. (Photo courtesy of Pacific Asia Museum)

Editor’s Note: In this article, Japanese names appear in the family name and the given name order.

   Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena presents The Japanese Sword: The Yoshihara Tradition of Swordmakers from March 17 to June 19. This exhibition highlights the work of four generations of the Yoshihara family of Japanese swordsmiths. The exhibition will follow the Yoshihara family lineage working within one of the five original traditions of sword making in Japan, and will demonstrate that the traditional samurai sword of Japan is not merely a ruthless weapon but an object of great spiritual and artistic value. The swords will be borrowed primarily from collections on the West Coast of the United States and the Yoshihara family and students in Japan.

 The Japanese sword is the most efficient, intrinsically beautiful, meticulously hand-crafted socio-religious icon in the world. They are produced by methods of manufacture that have remained relatively unchanged for over a thousand years. Once forged, they undergo a rigorous polishing procedure that involves as many as 20 different grades of stones and copious amounts of water. This polishing process brings out the intrinsic qualities of the blade: a wood grain type pattern in the steel and the crystalline structure (hamon) along the blade’s edge that was created during the quenching process. The hamon gives the blade a tough resilient edge that remains sharp even with heavy use.  The sword has always been highly revered within Japanese society. The sword is one of the three objects of the Japanese imperial regalia. In Japanese mythology the first sword was found in the tail of a dragon and was brought down from heaven with the ancient gods to begin the imperial line of Japan. Swords are often dedicated to shrines and temples as gifts for the residing kami (gods) or as vessels in which for them to reside. The changes in shape and manufacture of Japanese blades reflect the periods in which they were produced, and in many cases, it was the sword that wrote Japanese history. Later, during the peaceful Edo period (1603-1868), the sword was viewed as an instrument of guidance for the warrior seeking enlightenment, steering the samurai on ethics of conduct and self-improvement.

  With the restoration of power from the Shogun (military commander) to the Emperor Meiji in the latter part of the 19th century, the samurai became a relic of Japan’s ancient past. The Japanese people craved modernization and industrialization equal to that of the western powers. This caused a decline in the call for swords and the art of swordmaking was almost lost. In 1933, Kurihara Hikosaburo, a keen sword enthusiast and a member of the National diet, in an effort to save the craft, began a project to recruit and train swordsmiths from all over Japan. The first member to sign up for this project was Yoshihara Katsukichi, a toolmaker. Katsukichi was later to use the art name Yoshihara  Kuniie and become one of the most famous swordsmiths of the Showa period (1926-1989). 

   Kuniie’s descendants continue to this day to produce Japanese swords in the traditional manner. The exhibition displays examples of several generations of his family and their former apprentices. The current head of the Yoshihara school is Yoshihara Yoshindo who has recently been appointed an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Tokyo. The exhibition includes work by twelve award winning swordsmiths, four of whom have been elevated to the rank of mukansa (above competition level) by the Agency of Cultural Affairs of Japan. The swords will be exhibited in a manner that moves away from their practical use, emphasizing their spiritual and artistic qualities and illustrating the different styles of workmanship and the expression of the individual artist.

  Pacific Asia Museum, located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101, is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Fridays.  General admission is $7. Free parking is available next to the Museum.  For more information, visit www.pacificasianmuseum.org or phone (626) 449-2742.