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INTRODUCTION

THIS HANDBOOK on Japanese swords was conceived by John M. Yumoto to aid collectors in the knowledge and preservation of these treasures.

John Masayuki Yumoto was born on January 30, 1916, the second son of (Father) Yohei and (Mother) Koshio in Fresno, CA. In 1919 his family moved to Okayama, Japan, where he attended school.

When Yumoto was 5½ years of age, his paternal grandfather arranged and directed his sword education.

Yumoto Sensei’s grandfather was a lover-respecter of Nihonto to the extent that in his backyard was a bundle of swords that were going to be shipped to China. He, instead, purchased them and brought them home. The grandson was furnished with a live-in instructor who had a collection of swords. He had daily instruction in appreciating and identifying swords. This involved recognizing the geographic site of origin, the era of manufacture, and possibly even the exact smith who made the sword. When he had mastered this to the instructor’s satisfaction, he was taken around the neighborhood to see the swords in the possession of local families. His grandfather then arranged for him to go to a sword polisher’s home to learn that skill. Such an apprenticeship involved living with the teacher as a member of his family. This arrangement lasted until the late fall when persimmons at home were ripe and none were available at the polisher’s residence, so homesickness over-came the desire to learn. He was then sent to study fittings for swords. This instructor furnished Yumoto with a large box of menuki and told him to sort all of those into two piles, those that were better and those poorer in quality. When this was done and discussed, they were again mixed and he was told to sort them into piles of best, medium, and poorest. After this was mastered, he was told that now he understood quality in all fittings, whether menuki, kogai, fushi-koshira, kozuka, or tsuba.

His grandfather next arranged a time with a maker of fittings. Here he learned the basics of fabrication and patination from the master. When he was old enough he was encouraged to buy and sell swords. While away from home for schooling, he plied this trade successfully.

During his time in Kyoto at college, which trained officers for the military (roughly the equivalent of West Point or Annapolis), his father and grandfather became concerned that the nation of Japan, under the influence of militarily ambitious officials, was heading to war. They advised Yumoto Sensei to return to the United States and arranged passage on a ship as a lowest class passenger. Yumoto then went, as we would say, AWOL from the military college to board ship. Military officials searched the exact ship for him, but did not dream he would be among the cheapest section of passengers. He, therefore, was never found. He spent the passage gambling unsuccessfully and arrived poorer, but happy, in California where he found work as a photographer for a local newspaper and promptly enrolled in school, primarily to learn proper English, and finished high school there.

At the time of Pearl Harbor all of John’s loyalty was to the United States—the land of his birth and sympathy. Notwithstanding, Executive Order 9066 compelled Japanese-Americans to be gathered and interned and eventually to be moved from coastal areas. Tanforan Race Track in San Bruno, California, became “home” for him and his new wife Vickie.

On June 30, 1942, he was visited by an Officer of Naval Intelligence and abruptly sent off alone to Boulder, Colorado. Vickie was eventually allowed to join him there where he had become part of a newly established Japanese Language project. He had been recruited because of his innate skills as a teacher and his unique experiences as a teacher of the Japanese language and customs to Naval officers. Initially, his job was to train Americans in how to interrogate Japanese prisoners.

As the language program expanded, he and Vickie were moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma where their first child Kathleen was born. Eventually, with the consolidation of the language program after the war, they were moved to Fort Ord in Monterey, California, where son Ted was born and where Yumoto Sensei continued teaching at the Navy Post-Graduate Language School.

His love of Japanese swords only increased at the end of the war. Returning servicemen brought swords home by the thousands. Almost all were unaware of their importance. He was sought out for his ability to identify and educate and his main goal was always preservation of the sword. He always stated that these swords were treasures—works of art made many years ago. He stressed they were great personal weapons of a bygone era and no more could be made. They were sturdy, yet fragile in many ways and could be destroyed by neglect, misuse, or clumsy attempts at removing signs of damage. Trying to improve them by removing rust with American methods horrified him. This book was intended to educate Americans as to the significance of their treasures. This involved classification as to type, value, etc., but mostly so that the swords would be preserved as long as possible for future generations to enjoy. He was always glad to see them dispersed widely in the hands of people who would value them and carefully preserve them. If flood, fire, earthquake, and wars, in some cases, harmed them, there would be others still safe. He was glad to see them exchanged for money. If an individual paid for them they were more likely to take good care of them.

He was instrumental in founding clubs devoted to study and appreciation. Most of our sword clubs today owe their initial foundry to his influence.

He attended sword club meetings regularly and many American collectors were instructed by him. He attended sword club “buy and sell” shows not for commerce but to give teaching lectures and he always sat at a table and invited collectors to bring their treasures to him for identification. There was never a charge for this, only a jar for donations, which were given to the club presenting the show.

He led study groups to Japan to spend time visiting museums, individual collections, and conventions of the major sword clubs of Japan, the NBTHK (Nihon Bijustu Hozon Kyokai) and NBTHK (Nihon Token Hozon Kai) groups. He was honored by a special award and recognized for his teaching of Americans by the NBTHK.

Study this book well. It remains the primary instruction work in English for many collectors. Before it was written, the literature was sparse in any language but Japanese. There were brief writings by those who visited and purchased souvenirs in Japan in the late 1800s and early 1900s; but all were woefully short and unenlightened. They dealt mainly with the shape and function of the sword. I personally found only two brief manuscripts or lectures by someone at the University of Pennsylvania and a booklet by Dupree on the function of a curved sword.

When the swords came home with returning servicemen, few knew of their value. A magazine article about fortunes in Japanese swords piqued monetary interest, but no knowledge. After the Japanese surrender, General McArthur ordered all swords in Japan to be surrendered to the Occupation forces and destroyed. One American officer, with help from two Japanese sword scholars, managed in the nick of time to convince him to save the swords identified by the experts as art swords. Thus was born the NBTHK, the largest art sword group in Japan.

Swords as works of art, what do we mean by that? Is not the sword of Japan just a great personal weapon or a symbol of military spirit and a badge of office of the Samurai class? No, many have said that the Japanese sword is the greatest work of art ever in steel.

These ancient artisans, country blacksmiths though they were, created masterpieces we admire today not just for their efficiency as a personal defensive weapon, but for their beauty as well. Modern engineers who study the metallurgy of steel are amazed at the skill with which these swords were made and especially their heat treatment and the way they were fabricated of several different steels, so arranged that the sword would not bend or break in use. The file hard edge is protected and supported by a backing of elastic softer steels. They are then “polished” by an intricate process. The grain of the steel is revealed in patterns and clusters of visible particles, and clouds of different colors of the metals. The process is intricate and fascinating. The swords are capable of being studied, admired, and identified as to the locale of the manufacturer.

As these swords arrived back with returning war veterans, those of a certain mindset among them began to wonder at the swords complexity and beauty, and longed for greater knowledge. Those that had any experience with them were sought after and the blind led the blind.

John Yumoto changed much of that. The first effect was Americans learning to identify the “hand forged” swords from those turned out by wartime sword factories. We learned from the pictures which swords belonged to which branch of the Japanese military. We learned that the writing on the tang could be “read” by using the writing samples in this book. The light began to dawn and sword collecting really began in earnest among those who were exposed to them. Thanks to John Yumoto we learned to respect, identify, and care for them.

Yumoto Sensei was a unique individul: endowed with a near-genius intelligence and a driving work ethic.

He had the ability to be a superior teacher in many fields. His love of the Japanese sword and his desire to see it preserved forever is evident. Enjoy his work in this volume. May you be intrigued and instructed, as have so many, to learn to enjoy these masterpieces in steel art.

—Dr. Carroll Ford

Former editor of Japanese Sword Society of the United States’ newsletter and an elected board member of JSSUS for 20 years. Dr. Ford was a student of Yumoto-sensei for 14 years.