The Politics of Koa Isshin swords

[Peter Bleed]

Friends,

I beleive that Koa Isshin swords have been discussed on this list and other venues, but usually from a techincal and aesthetic perspective. Please let me ask about their politcal importance.

I am reading Yoshio KODAMA's biography "I Was Defeated" (What a guy; yakuza, class A war criminal, and supposed richest man in East Asia!) and note that he claims to have helped organize and operate a couple of "nationalist" organizations in the late 1930s with names that included the word "Koa." These included the "Koa Domei", the "Koa Seinen Renmei" and the "Koa Seinen Undo."

Does anyone know if "Koa" carried particular political impact? Was it a neutral description for East Asia? Or was it essentially about Japan's domination of the Continent? The obvious connection to swords is whether or not Koa Isshin blades were created with explicit nationalistic and warlike political intent.

Peter

[cabowen]

The term Koa 興亜 means "asian development" and in the context of Imperial Japan pretty much meant development by the Japanese. Koa Isshin is certainly a patriotic phrase and unquestionably using this phrase on these swords was done with nationalistic intent.