nihonto-db.com, Nihonto Database and interactive tools

[nulldevice]

Hey everyone, I feel like its finally time to share a project that I've been working on for a while now. Not because it is finished but because my first child was just born a few days ago and development on this project will likely slow down for a bit as I navigate the new phase of life that is fatherhood! 

 

Anyways, I've been building a website https://nihonto-db.com for some time now and wanted to present it here. At the core, it is an interactive and searchable version of @Jussi Ekholm's Koto sword index he's so graciously shared with the NMB. I can't begin to state how incredibly powerful Jussi's research has been and without his tireless efforts and collaboration, this wouldn't have been possible. So at the core, the "Sword Database" portion is a simple searchable database that allows you to search from over 16,000 swords. There are filters and advanced filters available to allow you to search, filter, and compare works by many smiths with as narrow or broad of a search breath as you wish.

 

Additionally, I've created a few other tools that I find useful. Namely an interactive Province Map of Japan showing the old swordmaking provinces which allows you to click on each province and see associated schools, swordsmiths, and other details of the schools and smiths of that province. 

 

Clicking on any province will pull up all of the swords in the database for that school and scrolling down you can view additional stats such as Kokuho, JuBun, JuBi, counts, counts of documented swords by type (Yari, naginata, katana, tachi, tanto, etc.) and other stats for each sword making region. There is also a Japanese/English toggle available which will show the circuits and provinces in Japanese rather than English which can be helpful when researching Japanese resources and sites.

 

 

 

Thirdly, there is Gokaden Timeline which is built upon a Google Sheet collaboration that some of the members here helped with a few weeks ago. It is as the name suggests, a simple plotting tool that allows you to plot and view the various swordmaking schools broken down by their tradition, and the timeframe in which those schools spanned. Currently this is limited to mostly mainline and some obscure Koto schools. Shinto and Shinshinto aren't appropriately represented at this point and will be a future addition. 

 

Finally, there is an articles section where I have been posting various articles, photos, and zufu translations for the main Gokaden schools. Currently Soshu mainline and Yamashiro mainline are finished and Yamato and Bizen are in the works. The current selection of articles come from the Nihonto Taikan lectures from Honma Junji, Hiroi Yuichi, Numata Kenji, and other Japanese sword scholars and contain detailed genealogies, kantei points for grandmaster smiths, and the evolution of traditions, schools, and lineages of swordsmiths of the koto era. 

 

 

Each article goes into great detail and I've provided images when available of all of the swords (or an appropriate substitute) mentioned by the authors as well as translations of the various zufu used (when available). They are quite lengthy articles which provide a great deep dive into the prolific schools for each of the gokaden. 

 

 

I have many more plans for this site to hopefully become another helpful resource in the world of nihonto study and also be a place where swords can be researched in detail with photos, descriptions, and other additional information. I also would like to expand this into including many more shinto and shinshinto blades but as I'm a 1 man operation and now have a 1 week old baby, slow and steady is the key! 

 

There is a registration and sign-up option available, currently free users (there are no paid for options at this time) will also gain access to the Digital Library, an online encyclopedia of Japanese swords including some selected zufu, images of famous shrine swords, and translations when available. The current free digital library has ~2500 images of just over 500 swords. Feel free to make a free account and sign up with Google, Facebook, or register an email and password and take a look!

 

 

I hope this site serves as a resource for all and if anybody has any comments or things the community would like to see, feel free to let me know and I will do my best to work on them as time allows. Thanks again to the NMB community and everyone here who has given their knowledge, time, and previous resources to make this all possible. 

 

 

 

 

[ROKUJURO]

Congratulations, and all the best for the three of you! 

All other projects can wait!

[eternal_newbie]

Fantastic work, I've already signed up and can't wait to see how it develops.

[eternal_newbie]

One question, if I may - do you have any plans for keeping the list of swords up to date? e.g. are you going to update it whenever Jussi releases a new version of his dataset, or will members be able to request/make changes to add new swords or update the info for existing ones?

[nulldevice]

27 minutes ago, eternal_newbie said:

One question, if I may - do you have any plans for keeping the list of swords up to date? e.g. are you going to update it whenever Jussi releases a new version of his dataset, or will members be able to request/make changes to add new swords or update the info for existing ones?

I am actively maintaining it. I’ve already added nearly 1000 swords to the site that weren’t in the initial database.

 

I also have bulk import backend tools available where I can take a CSV of swords and info and upload them, including photos (coming soon!), prices, and various translations to the database. 
 

I’d also like to allow logged in members to upload or submit records for addition, but that will depend on how many users actually end up using the site. 

[eternal_newbie]

Sounds great, you've clearly put a lot of thought into this 

 

I'll add only this; if you're not swimming in money it may be worthwhile to add a Donate or Tip Jar link somewhere so heavy users can contribute to hosting costs. Most won't, but some will, especially if they see value in it.

 

(at least until you get paid subscriptions working, if you ever plan to do that)

[Brian]

Awesome resource. I know that @DENihontocollector was also working on something similar with Jussi, so there may be more than one resource coming from this. But extremely useful and thanks for your efforts. Will add it to the links section, and good luck and thanks.

[eternal_newbie]

20 minutes ago, Brian said:

there may be more than one resource coming from this

 

Honestly, given how niche the field is and how all of these resources are maintained by private individuals, a little redundancy is a good thing. I have an extensive library of references, both English and Japanese, and I still felt the loss when Nihonto Club went members-only just because of the convenience of the search function (I've been approved for an account there, thankfully).

[DENihontocollector]

Great work!
I made a similar programm months ago. In consultation with Jussi. It is an .EXE or MAC Program what you can download. No specific Webpage. It can be updated simply by replacing Jussi´s CSV data if he will add more swords to his database. It does basically the same like yours. I sent it also to Brian and he wanted to impliment it here in the NMB page. As far as I know Brian is currently working with a programmer to implement it to the NMB page.
My Intention was to honor Jussi´s work and support NMB. 

So congrats, you were faster.

Dennis

 

Here is my Programm as mentioned as .EXE or Mac Application:

Its a stand alone Program for download. 

[Brian]

Indeed, Dennis did approach me a few weeks back, and I wanted to integrate it into a page here. My own fault for delaying. But as mentioned, the info is useful and the more sources the better. May still push to have a downloadable exe here, for offline use and on laptops etc.
I wonder which guy is going to be the one to do this as an app for cellphones...I expect more than one guy will be working on something.

[DENihontocollector]

17 minutes ago, Brian said:

I wonder which guy is going to be the one to do this as an app for cellphones

I am currently working on it

[nulldevice]

Im sure im not the first to have the searchable database idea and certainly won’t be the last. I think many collectors want to get their hands on more data when the resources for non Japanese speakers are very limited. 
 

I did realize I forgot to add that you can search nearly anything in the search bar. “Tanobe”, “Denrai”, “Meito” and double quoted strings are literal searches so you can search (Shizu, “Juyo 27”) to get filtered results if you have a particular sword you’re looking for. Kanji also works if it matches the Mei.
 

Truth be told there are other pages still private that are the main bread and butter of the site and where I believe the true value will live for serious nihonto students that im

hoping to release very soon. 

[MassiveMoonHeh]

Chandle your work is first class building on Jussi's incredible efforts.

 

As you know I am a massive fan of this project and have already played with this quite a bit - I am excited to see it when images stat coming through... cannot wait! 

 

To @Hoshi, @nulldevice & @Jussi Ekholm, thank you so much! You three are all a credit to this space! 

 

The effort you three have put into your projects are just an incredible step forward for this hobby making it a lot easier to navigate than ever before! 

 

Wow 2026 - we are only 49 days in and this is already proving to be an awesome year for being a Nihonto enthusiast!

[Hoshi]

Dear Chandler, 

 

Thank you for your effort, it has been a pleasure following your project.

 

You bring the type of energy that the field needs, a deep curiosity coupled with builder energy. 

 

The map of Japan is great interactive material, and the timelines are insightful as well. 

 

I look forward to seeing how this evolves, and getting to know you better.

 

Best,

 

Hoshi 

[Scogg]

Chandler,

I'm sorry I didn't get to see you in Vegas this year; but it sounds like you had a pretty good excuse . Congrats on fatherhood! How exciting! 

I'm extremely impressed by what you've put together... This is the kind of material I've desired ever since I fist got interested in Nihonto. This is really amazing stuff, and I love the province map and compare tool.

What you've done is important, and will benefit collectors immeasurably. 
Well done, congrats, and THANK YOU!
-Sam

[Jussi Ekholm]

I am super happy that guys with technical knowledge are putting things together and making amazing stuff happen. It is wonderful to see how just simple rows of text can be changed to a really cool and fine resource. 

 

As others said above, the map might be my favorite thing. Starting from it, it's great to advance in few clicks to various smiths and items.

 

Congratulations on the baby Chandler 

[Sebuh]

Great work Chandler! thank you for sharing it with us here!

 

Congratulations on the baby! very exciting! wish you the best!