Several times in

Japanese history The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventi ...

, the new ruler sought to ensure his position by calling a . Armies would scour the entire country, confiscating the

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s of all potential enemies of the new regime. In this manner, the new ruler sought to ensure that no one could take the country by force as he had just done. The most famous sword hunt was ordered by

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

in 1588.

Sword hunts in the Sengoku period

Most men wore swords from the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japan ...

until the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

in Japan.

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

sought an end to this practice, and ordered the seizure of swords and a variety of other weapons from civilians, in particular the Ikkō-ikki peasant-monk leagues which sought to overthrow ''samurai'' rule. In 1588,

, having become kampaku or "imperial regent", ordered a new sword hunt; Hideyoshi, like Oda, sought to solidify separations in the class structure, denying commoners weapons while allowing them to the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

, the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

class. In addition, Toyotomi's sword hunt, like Oda's, was intended to prevent peasant uprisings and to deny weapons to his adversaries. This hunt may have been inspired by a peasant uprising in Higo Province the year prior, but also served to disarm the ''

sōhei were Buddhist warrior monks of both classical and feudal Japan. At certain points in history, they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate. The prominence of the ''sōhei'' rose in parallel wit ...

'' of

Mount Kōya is a large temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to the south of Osaka. In the strictest sense, ''Mount Kōya'' is the mountain name ( sangō) of Kongōbu-ji Temple, the ecclesiastical headquarters of the Kōyasan sect of Shingon B ...

and Tōnomine. Toyotomi claimed that the confiscated weapons would be melted down and used to create a giant image of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

for the Asuka-dera monastery in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

. "Taikō's Sword Hunt", as it came to be called, was accompanied by a number of other edicts, including the Expulsion Edict of 1590, by which Toyotomi sought to establish a census and expel from villages any newcomers who arrived in or after 1590. The chief goal of this was to place a check on the threat posed by ''

rōnin A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master' ...

'', masterless wandering samurai who had the potential not only for crime and violence in general, but for banding together to overthrow Toyotomi rule. Hideyoshi, like most of this period, believed in rule by edict, paying little or no attention to legal principles.

Sword control in Edo period

The Tokugawa shogunate did not confiscate swords from farmers and townspeople, who could continue to wear daisho until 1683. Many would keep wearing wakizashi on a daily basis after then. After the middle of the 18th century, they were still worn during special events such as travel, weddings, and funerals. This lasted until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

Sword ban in the Meiji Restoration

The

of the 1860s was the beginning of a period of major modernization and Westernization. In 1871, extensive reforms were passed and executed, abolishing the ''han'' system and thus ending feudalism and the class system. In 1876, samurai were banned from carrying '' daishō''. Peasants and townspeople were banned from carrying '' wakizashi''. A standing army was created, as was a police force. This "sword hunt" only prohibited civilians from wearing swords and going out, not the possession of weapons.

Sword hunt after World War 2

In 1946, Japanese civilians were made to forfeit their swords by

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...

. The number of swords forfeited was over three million. This is the first time that Japanese peasants were disarmed completely. Today, Japan has a Sword and Firearms Law which, much like gun control laws around the world, governs the possession and use of weapons in public. The purchase and ownership of certain swords within Japan is legal if they are properly registered, though the import and export of such items is tightly controlled, particularly in the case of items that might be labeled as national or cultural artifacts. Swords that are not produced by licensed smiths (including all machine-made swords) are prohibited for individuals. Japanese military swords are legal in Japan if they were made with traditional materials and methods, as swords produced by such methods are not seen only as weapons but also as works of art. Swords produced by mass production methods are seen solely as weapons and are thus illegal.

Notes

{{notelist

References

*Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford: Stanford University Press. *Sansom, George (1963). "A History of Japan: 1615-1867." Stanford: Stanford University Press. *Hujiki Hisashi (2005). "刀狩り: 武器を封印した民衆." Military history of Japan Military disbanding and disarmament Gun politics in Japan