Who were the clients of top shinto wakizashi smiths?

[seattle1]

Hello:

While the carrying of more than one blade goes back to very early times, we all know that by the late Momoyama and into early Edo times the carrying of two swords, one a wakizashi and the other a katana in matching, or at least highly complementary koshirae, became the badge of the samurai, indeed a requirement of that social group. We also know that swordsmiths of various recognized levels of skill made many wakizashi for the daisho set, sometimes both the long and the short sword, perhaps even carrying the same date. We also know that during the early Edo period, merchants and a few selected others, were allowed to carry wakizashi length blades.

I would like to know if anyone knows how the distribution of the more highly rated smiths, say Jo saku and above, would be divided between samurai clients and merchant clients, or if not the distribution, then did any rules govern for whom a smith might make or not make a blade? I would guess that smiths who worked for a particular Daimyo, like the Hizen, would have their work, or example, going only to the Nabeshima; those working in Tokugawa strongholds like Edo, Nagoya and Mito, would work for samurai, but there were rich merchants there as well. Those in Kyoto, such as the Horikawa and Mishina, might work for the extended Royal family or wealthy merchants. Osaka smiths would probably have a large merchant clientele. Perhaps lower rated smiths took the lion's share of merchant work, but we know that superb wakizashi were made for samurai and for merchants. What determined the distribution?

Idea/data anyone?

Arnold F.

[watsonmil]

Dear Arnold,

The same as today .... MONEY :D !

... Anonymouse Ron

[seattle1]

Hello Ron:

Well so I've heard, but I didn't think the question was quite that simple. I would be willing to bet that some smiths simply did not make blades for members of the merchant class. It is easy to speculate why certain groups probably only made for the samurai, or predominately for the samurai, but I am sure(guessing only) that some never made blades for merchants, and some predominately for merchants. Does anyone know what rules might have guided those practices or have any information on the distribution?

Arnold F.

[watsonmil]

Dear Arnold,

I do not know the answer to your question, ... or for that matter whether it can be answered with certainty. I should think ( speculation only ), that if a smith were patronized by a specific Daimyo that he might well be forbidden to make swords for the merchant class and/or consider himself to haughty to stoop to serving the merchant class.

... Ron Watson

[Peter Bleed]

As usual, Arnold has asked an interesting question. I certainly do not know the answer. Still, my interest in the swords of the Sendai han disposes me to suggest that this question does not have an easy answer.

A small cluster of smiths made swords in Sendai throughout the Edo period. At any time there were on the order of 6 or 8 smiths in town. At the same time, Sendai was a "castle town" full of under-employed samurai, many of whom survived by making those low-end kodogu that got shipped to Nagoya or wherever.

This was not a community that had lots of "merchants" - let alone "rich" ones. I have found/seen several short swords made by these smiths. In fact, I think that shoto are more common than daito. Just as professors need tweed sport coats (even in Georgia!), it may have been that there were katanas to be had during the Edo period ( think War surplus), but that sometimes a working samurai had to order a new wakizashi. And those guys were poor, so instead of getting something from a trendy smith in Edo or - dare I say it, Hizen(!) - they might go down the road to the local guy.

Peter.

[cabowen]

Smiths employed by their han had a steady income and made whatever they were told. Those that were not so employed, satisfied whatever orders came through the door. It is doubtful that han smiths made blade for the merchant class though surely they made wakizashi. Smiths that were basically self-employed probably made many wakizashi for the merchant class and probably katana for samurai lower in rank. With the low demand in peace time, no doubt they also did other work to make ends meet.

[BIG]

Hi Arnold,

 

On Jinsoo Kims side You find a Short Brief history of Nihonto by Sato Kanzan.

 

Nihonto a la mode. Where is the Data?

 

http://www.jp-sword.com/files/basic/history.html

 

Best Regards

[Markus]

There was an article in the (Japanese) Token-Bijutsu a long time ago on the employment situation

of a swordsmith by a fief and how he was equipped with raw materials and so on. I will try to

dig it out it and see if it also says something on how orders were handled/regulated.