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Ainu blades


Peter Bleed

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There was some interest in Ainu blades so I'll post a couple images. There are three typical Ainu blades, belt knives, bush knives, and then real swords. Most blades in all three categories were recycled Japanese blades. Some few were repurposed "nippon-to" but most look like utilitarian cutlery. What makes then "Ainu" is the fittings that got once they were in Ainu hands.There were also some few blades that are called "Yezo-to" that seem to have been forged either by Ainu smiths or at least up in Hokkaido to Ainu standards. These are not edge tempered or mounted like Nippon-to and they're pretty rare. I have one. It is shown as Ainublade3 . These swords always seem to have had very fragile fittings.

I include a picture of a book that some might find or interest.

Peter

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Chris and Steve raise big issues that I am not sure I am qualified to address. It certainly is the case that what "we"  might call "Ainu" refers to a wide range of folks. Starting in the Nara period there were people who didn't buy into the whole Kyoto court/Emperor thing. They went by various names etc etc. By the later Edo period the "Japanese" had spread up to Hokkaido (oh, and down to Okinawa, too). The folks up north were organized in a variety of ways outside the Japanese imperial system, but basically they survived without rice agriculture. Thru the Edo period there was active trade between "Japan" and those folks and there was at least one serious "battle" that involve matchlocks and I assume other Japanese weapons. Bottom line is that there probably never was anything like a single cultural group that were called "Ainu" just like there never was a community of "Indians."

What seems to me to be the case is that cultural communities in Hokkaido developed distinctive costumes and regalia  and it became a commodity much as had Native American materials. Edo period also used swords and various other objects to mark individuals and families as allies. Just as colonial leaders had done in America, Siberia, China, and India, such weapons were given to both empower and mark allies - who then were also of course, able to profit from such relationships.

So, what probably were pretty good Japanese swords made it north. So did lots of low-end "Trade Goods." There were also lots of showy ornaments. By Meiji times, Japan seems to have been awash in "old swords" and lots of that stuff made its way north. And then, starting in Meiji times and continuing up to today, there has been active trade in souvenirs - omiyagi - that present "Ainu motifs."

Thanks for listening.

Peter

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Peter,

 

Your Ainu blade topic raises an interesting question. Were the native Hokkaido Ainu not required to turn over their ancestral swords? ( wwII )

 

I read somewhere there were several thousand swords collected on Hokkaido at the end of wwII. As a matter of fact, my father, a young 11th Airborne soldier was part of an weapons collection mission up the Ishikari river. He returned home with a few typical Japanese swords, Shin gunto, Wakizashi. I would have thought at least one of his bring backs would have been Ainu type.

 

He spoke a few times about the Ishikari weapons collection mission, the types of swords , sizes, colors, etc.. But I don't recall him ever mentioning Ainu.

 

Maybe I simply haven't paid attention, but have any Ainu swords ever shown up on the NMB or otherwise and shown as wwII bring backs.

 

Interesting subject,

 

Dave M.

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Considering that the Japanese themselves had buried large weapons caches, i would think it probable that Ainu people living in remote areas might hide swords for later retrieval.

 

Good point...Very likely the case !

 

Dave M.

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I might also suggest as Peter mentioned the "Ainu" were well outside of traditional Japanese thinking. From the pictures shown of Ainu blades, they appear to be more of an "utilitarian type" and very likely considered necessary tools. Therefore, simply decided not to turn them over to the US military.

 

If this was perhaps the situation, I suspect the military command may have considered it not worth enforcing.

 

Dave M.

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This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

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