靖国刀 Forge
Yasukuni-tō are the most prestigious traditionally-made swords of the war years: genuine gendaitō forged from tamahagane at a dedicated shrine forge rather than in arsenal production. You identify a Yasukuni blade by a smith’s “Yasu” (靖) art-name and a formal date on the reverse of the nakago, not by any shrine emblem. A blade carrying a chrysanthemum-on-water (kikusui) crest is Minatogawa, the navy forge, not Yasukuni.
History and lineage
The Nihontō Tanren Kai forge was established on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on 8 July 1933 and operated until 1945, producing on the order of eight thousand traditionally-forged blades for army officers. Smiths admitted to the forge worked entirely in the old manner — tamahagane, hand-forging, clay-coating, water quenching — and took art-names carrying the 靖 (“Yasu”) character of the shrine. The most prolific and most decorated was Kotani Yasunori (1909–2003), the last surviving Yasukuni smith; the founding generation included Kajiyama Yasutoku as managing director and Miyaguchi Yasuhiro, with Ikeda Yasumitsu among the early prolific hands. (Yasunori and Yasumitsu are different men — a distinction often muddled online.)
Identifying characteristics
The blades are genuine water-quenched gendaitō, their workmanship modelled on Kamakura Bizen and Osafune and on the Yamashiro Rai line: a clean, tight ko-itame hada, with suguha or gentle gunome in a bright nioi-guchi with ashi. The conventions are diagnostic: a tachi-style mei with a formal era (nengō) date inscribed on the reverse of the nakago, and kiri yasurime. Crucially, Yasukuni blades bear no shrine mon — the forge did not stamp its work with an emblem. Where the army’s inspection program overlapped, some carry the star stamp of the RJT, but never a shrine crest.
Why this matters for collectors
A Yasukuni-tō is a guaranteed traditionally-made blade. Alongside the star-stamped RJT work, it is one of the two wartime categories a collector can treat as certain gendaitō. The practical checks are simple. Look for a genuine “Yasu” art-name and a reverse-side nengō date, then read the hada and hamon in hand for traditional work; the standard reference is Tom Kishida’s monograph on the forge. As ever, papers from the NBTHK settle a contested example, and a kikusui mon points firmly toward Minatogawa rather than Yasukuni.
If you’re seeking a shrine-forge gendaitō, we welcome enquiries.
