Are Japanese swordsmiths artists or craftsmen?

[MassiveMoonHeh]

This recent episode of History of Katana explores this important question.

 

Is the Japanese sword art? Are swordsmiths craftsmen or artists? When does one reality become the other? What does a sword make you feel? Do swords provide inspiration? Or are they merely a weapon?

 

15th-generation swordsmith Kazuki Kawashima-san answers a question he has spent his whole life living: what, exactly, is he making?

 

Video Here.

[Bugyotsuji]

Best of both worlds fused in one? Hard to pin this down as the Japanese concept of Shokunin is a stand-alone concept, with no exact equivalent in English, professional craftsman yes, artist yes, artisan yes.

 

Hayashibara once made a video about the Tatara in Shimane and how the spirit of the gods is strongly invoked into the creation of the tamahagane. Since humans can become Kami in Japan, or are born in the image of God in the West, surely there is or should be a spark of universal genius in a blade which can appeal, indeed touch the soul of others.

[The Blacksmith]

I would have to answer BOTH !

 

A craftsman in that he is actually making something by hand using years of knowledge and skill, but an artist in as much as he is free to manipulate the metal and shape it to achieve HIS desired effect.  The hada, sugata  and hamon etc. is down to his artistic ideas. So I do not think that you can differentiate the two, not in this instance.

[Mark S.]

I would view it as swordsmiths are craftsmen… some of whom are able to elevate their craft to the level of art.  

[Hokke]

Seems simple enough, I would say both, now, but not in the beginning. Swords and other weapons, were initially created for one purpose, death. However, in the pursuit of making a superior weapon, the artistic properties were revealed. The art was an accident that would eventually become the goal. Today of course, the pendulum has swung the complete opposite direction and the majority of Japanese weapons are created for only one purpose, art and not death. 

[george trotter]

As I understand it...

For a thousand years the Japanese swordsmith has been making weapons for use on the battlefield. This purpose continued right up to 15th August 1945 when the Emperor surrendered Japan. In 1953/54, the making of swords re-commenced, but they are officially classified as art, not weapons...so, officially, from 1953/54 Japanese swords are classified as ART, and so the people who make them must be classified as artists.

Just my 10 cents worth...

Regards...

[John C]

I imagine the difference is probably just semantics. Any utilitarian object made the best it can be by a craftsman can turn into art when the craftsman elevates the object to be aesthetically pleasing, which is of course, subjective. So craftsman can become artists. But can artists, those who make objects that are solely aesthetically pleasing, become craftsmen?

And the Beat goes on...

—the Whispers—

 

John C.

[Scogg]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 

[GreyVR]

The Conundrum of the Workshops?

 

When the flush of a newborn sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,

Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mold;

And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,

Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

[Robert S]

On 6/21/2026 at 8:17 AM, John C said:

I imagine the difference is probably just semantics. Any utilitarian object made the best it can be by a craftsman can turn into art when the craftsman elevates the object to be aesthetically pleasing, which is of course, subjective. So craftsman can become artists. But can artists, those who make objects that are solely aesthetically pleasing, become craftsmen?

And the Beat goes on...

—the Whispers—

 

John C.

Depending on the nature of the art medium, some artists have to be very good craftsmen first.  For instance, in my early career I was a printmaker, and definitely had to learn and master significant craft before I could even begin to produce something worthwhile.  Likewise with traditional sculpture and painting.  Much, but by no means all, of the modernist and postmodernist work lacks this craft grounding... and it frequently shows.  For a swordsmith, I would say it is the same - you couldn't even begin to produce anything which was art until you had a deep grounding in the craft... and between the fact that some swordsmiths just made swords - i.e. they weren't trying to make art, just a very good sword - and the fact that all swordsmiths probably had a long initial period where art was beyond them, I would guess that the majority of swords made did not intend or try to be art.  And since intention is key, by some definitions they aren't art.

 

The other big factor which makes the whole "art" attribution different in Japan was the degree to which outright copying was considered perfectly acceptable.  If you run through the entirety of the V&A's tsuba collection, the number of designs duplicated multiple times is astonishing.  In the west, this would de facto make anything which was a copy craft, not art.  I get the impression that that distinction was not so important in Japan.

[ROKUJURO]

I completely consent to what Robert wrote.

Japan had a MINGEI movement which tried to re-"produce" folk-art. Just looking at ceramics and thinking of famous names like SOETSU YANAGI as a theoretic, HAMADA SHÔJI, KAWAI KANJIRO and others as potters, they tried to revive the idea of unintentionally made art-pots that were previously made by folk-potters. That is of course a contradiction in itself. 

But I find it perfectly reasonable that an old sword, forged with the intent of it being just a good weapon, can have artistic features and merit in our modern view. 
 

 

[Kanenaga]

IMO nihonto are not fine art, which concerns itself mainly with the human condition.

Nihonto are examples of applied art, aka industrial art. 

Here's how AI makes the distinction:

 

Feature	Fine Art	Applied Art
Primary Purpose	To be observed, stimulate the intellect, and evoke emotion.	To serve a practical function or commercial need.
Use	Exclusively for visual enjoyment; non-functional.	Has a specific use
Common Mediums	Painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and fine art photography.	Graphic design, fashion design, industrial design, interior design, and ceramics.
Creation Process	Typically self-directed; dictated entirely by the artist's own vision.	Often client-driven; heavily constrained by budget, and mass production.

[MassiveMoonHeh]

5 hours ago, Kanenaga said:

IMO nihonto are not fine art, which concerns itself mainly with the human condition.

Nihonto are examples of applied art, aka industrial art. 

Here's how AI makes the distinction:

 

Feature	Fine Art	Applied Art
Primary Purpose	To be observed, stimulate the intellect, and evoke emotion.	To serve a practical function or commercial need.
Use	Exclusively for visual enjoyment; non-functional.	Has a specific use
Common Mediums	Painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and fine art photography.	Graphic design, fashion design, industrial design, interior design, and ceramics.
Creation Process	Typically self-directed; dictated entirely by the artist's own vision.	Often client-driven; heavily constrained by budget, and mass production.

Hmmm...

 

When does functional/applied art become fine art?  

 

Functional art becomes fine art when its conceptual expression, aesthetic value, and the artist's intent supersede its utilitarian purpose. Once a piece is created or acquired primarily to evoke emotion, provoke thought, or challenge conventions rather than to be used daily, at that moment functional art crosses into fine art.

 

The transition depends on several critical factors:

 

Primary Intent: If a sword was designed to go to war with it is design or if it is designed to evoke emotions and appreciation —such as Horikawa Kunihiro's Yamanbagiri created in 1590 to replicate Chogi's original Yamabagiri created almost 300 years earlier — then function becomes secondary to the artistic message. This change to the primary intent has become so powerful today that the copy of the Yamanbagiri now holds the record for the highest priced sword ever. It was purchased not for it's functional purpose but it's fine art appeal. The fact that an organisation such as the NBTHK exists to rank a sword on artistic merit rather than how strong or sharp it is talks volumes to the change in primary intent. Swords are no longer weapons of war, they are valued for what they portray, how they look and what effect they give the viewer.

 

Context of Display: Moving an object from a family living room to a museum or gallery shifts the viewer's focus from utility to observation and interpretation. Japanese swords are no longer stored in sword store houses by the local lord, those days are gone. Today rare and notable swords from major smiths adorn Museum exhibitions and boutique sword galleries. They are displayed pride of place in luxury condos, next to Picassos, Monets and Banksys.

 

Concept Over Utility: Today swords challenge the viewer, tells a story, or serves as a observation of nature rather than just being used as a weapon of war. People flock from all over to see the Yamatorige, the Yamanbagiri, one of the Tenka Goken or Nihon Sansaku or anything by the smiths; Masamune, Gō Yoshihiro, Mursamasa or Kotetsu not because it is something that can kill someone but because of what it represents or what it looks like or what story that it tells. 

 

Craftsmanship and Innovation: When the technique and material choices are elevated to an unprecedented level of mastery, the object becomes highly collectible not for what it does, but for what it is. And this can be seen since the 1500s when swords of the Nihon Sansaku were valued more than any other. These swords have been held in private collections by the Daimyo, Shoguns and Emperors not for their ability to fight in a war but for the importance of the artisan and the appreciation of the sword. Since the 1500s the swords by the Nihon Sansaku and other important smiths were no longer used in battle but were instead used for ceremonial purposes and especially in the important gift giving amongst the upper class. It is for this reason that you have expressions like "You never see a Ghost or a Gō" because these swords were all locked away from the general public rather than being used on the battlefield. The sword stopped being a weapon and became a status symbol like fine art does today. 

 

Scarcity and Rarity: While functional design is often serial or mass-produced, fine art is highly original, limited in edition, or completely one-of-a-kind. And this is especially true for swords. Each Japanese sword is not a mass-produced item made on a factory line. Each sword instead is still a one off piece, a one of a kind, completely unique. That makes especially well crafted and designed swords by the great master especially scarce and rare. It the reason why everyone wants a Tokubetsu Juyo sword but only a rare few own one of these 1,200 or so swords. It is the reason why the rarest of these swords sell for millions not thousands. On the other side, through out man's history, fine art pieces have been mass produced, be it medieval church sculptures, great works from masters like Canaletto, Hokusai, Damien Hirst and even the famous Banksy prints today - all created on a production line but are not considered industrial at all, all are considered fine art and yet none show the same artisanal intent that today's smith show when they spend hours at the forge perfecting their craft to produce only 2 swords a month as stipulated by law. A sword created today is not weapon but a piece of fine art. An art that speaks to the Japanese nation and history. An art that carries the weight of generations and speaks of lineage. This is no longer functional art - this is fine art.

 

I think we can therefore argue with some justification that swords today are no longer functional/applied art as perhaps they were back in the day but we can now elevate these exquisite and coveted pieces to the level of fine art.

 

And I have not even mentioned the extra dimension of the Spiritual element of swords and the belief that every sword has a soul something no fine art piece can claim any where in the world but that is probably more a discussion for the significance of Japanese swords rather than the merits of a sword being fine art.

[eternal_newbie]

On a slight tangent, I'm not sure I'd respect the opinion of AI on what constitutes art...

[Bugyotsuji]

Some genius smiths appear in every generation to transcend the tradition. One such is Henmi Toyo (Chik-kansai Yoshitaka) from late Edo and early Meiji. Not only did he make fantastical blades but his carving was superlative, for Mei and horimono, and in other materials.

 

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hs=52n&sca_esv=04a6da60a81ec2d8&hl=en-gb&udm=2&q=逸見東洋&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip_a3cu6GVAxWBgVYBHdGsBPcQBSgAegQICRAB&biw=390&bih=699&dpr=3

 

 

[MassiveMoonHeh]

24 minutes ago, eternal_newbie said:

On a slight tangent, I'm not sure I'd respect the opinion of AI on what constitutes art...

And that is a completely different discussion - can AI create art and when android humanoids can start acting like humans will a katana forged by a robot constitute art?

[Bugyotsuji]

From a discussion on another forum re AI.

”Apparently Chat GPT and the like are liable to teach themselves to be dumb.
As they work on a learning loop if they regurgitate incorrect information they also consume that information as truth and around the loop they go.

This is said to be the reason why AI companies with huge efforts try to harvest old pre-AI internet and media content, that is free from copied and loop-recycled AI fantasies.”

 

[GreyVR]

18 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

From a discussion on another forum re AI.

(snip)As they work on a learning loop if they regurgitate incorrect information they also consume that information as truth and around the loop they go.

 

 

This is correct. Basically, you will never had to trust the opinion of an LLM, because it doesn't really have one. What it does have is some guy's opinion that was posted on the internet, which might or might not be good. 

"AI" are really just search engines. I use chatgpt often, and I check everything it tells me, like I heard it at the mall. But it IS a better search engine than google. Much better. Especially as you won't have to search through 500 cut and paste copies of each other pages looking for one with something different. 

[Kanenaga]

This discussion is about art. Can we prevent it from degenerating into yet another pointless argument about AI?

 

It's true that swords are no longer useful (except in martial arts training) but that does not, IMHO, make them any less utilitarian. They can certainly be beautiful, but beauty is not a synonym for art. A lot of art is not beautiful, but is meaningful -- which swords are not. I guess for some this is not an easy distinction.

 

 

[GreyVR]

On 6/25/2026 at 6:26 PM, Kanenaga said:

This discussion is about art. Can we prevent it from degenerating into yet another pointless argument about AI?

 

It's true that swords are no longer useful (except in martial arts training) but that does not, IMHO, make them any less utilitarian. They can certainly be beautiful, but beauty is not a synonym for art. A lot of art is not beautiful, but is meaningful -- which swords are not. I guess for some this is not an easy distinction.

 

 

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp put a urinal on a pedestal, signed it "R Mutt' and entered it into an art contest under the title "Fountain.' 
DuChamp started, and eventually won, the argument that anything is art if you want it to be. 

Above, I posted a verse from a Kipling poem, The conundrum of the workshops, about what art is. 

It's a question people have been debating for centuries, and I find it question that is on a poor trajectory. The real question isn't what is art, because everything is.... but where you go after that question is answered with "everything is art if you want it to be." 

And when that question has been answered, the biggest thing left on the table is value judgements.
"This is grand and that is trash."
"The price to own it is...
Or that term so familiar to collector of Japanese swords... "Worthy of preservation." 

And so we move from 'what is art' to 'what gives art it's value?" and that is a difficult question indeed, because it has no specific anchors that cannot be questioned.... but it also is a question with a great many answers. 

[sabiji]

It is important to bear in mind that the Western conception of art differs significantly from the Japanese conception in terms of its cultural evolution.

 

In the Western understanding, there is a clear distinction between the “fine arts” and craftsmanship. Consequently, artistic objects are detached from utility and functionality, and the focus is on the ingenuity and creativity of the “artist,” particularly in contrast to other creators.

 

In the West, there is also a clear distinction between “high art” and folk art, which draws on centuries-old, regional, and typically rural traditions. Folk art is not the work of autonomous artists, and its creators are not specifically trained; at best, they follow family traditions. Of course, there are also cases here where craft production serves as a primary source of income. However, the objects are produced in large quantities for a broad customer base.

 

In the Western understanding, a true work of art is unique, individual, and unmistakable.

 

In contrast, the Japanese understanding of art permeates everyday life and is not separate from craftsmanship. Beauty, aesthetics, and functionality are interdependent and inseparable.

 

It was precisely this aspect that so fundamentally captivated Westerners and had an enormous influence on Western artists and designers in the 19th century.

 

Furthermore, art and crafts are not necessarily distinguished from one another, even though “folk art” exists in Japan just as it does in the West. 

 

In the Mingei movement—as someone here has already mentioned—there was a theoretical attempt to distance oneself from certain craft-oriented approaches in order to produce simple objects for everyday use as anonymous artisans. 

I’m no expert, but the Mingei movement is certainly also a result of the “elevation” of arts and crafts to art in the Western sense, which did not go without consequences in modern Japan either

Ironically, in some cases the opposite was achieved, which actually proves that people fundamentally need “categories” for classification. 

 

I don’t know if the question posed in this thread would have been understood at all in Japan a few hundred years ago.

 

Certainly, particularly outstanding swordsmiths were regarded as masters of their craft, were highly esteemed, and held in high regard. But were they viewed as artists, as we in the West understand the term? From a purely social standpoint, they were, first and foremost, simply craftsmen.

 

[Tetsu]

The key attribute of "art," is object possessing an aesthetic that induces emotion.  What constitutes "aesthetic" is subjective, and left to the opinion of the individual.  Andy Warhol famously painted Campbell’s Soup cans, and an audience of flatus huffers praised the exhibit.  Art doesn't require or imply effort in it's creation; case in point, Japanese viewing stones, which are relatively unmodified rocks to be stared at, contemplated, and appreciated.

 

A "craft" requires skill and applied knowledge, both of which are learned and honed over time.  All artists are craftsmen, but not all craftsmen are artists.

 

A factory worker at a hammer factory may consider himself an artist, take great care in its appearance, with aspirations someone will display it without using it to drive  nails.  Another guy in the factory will consider himself a craftsman, and focus on the hammer's practical aspects and durability.  Someone at a store selling the hammers may pick up a hammer, and find a certain aesthetic about it, but will live their entire life without pounding a nail.  A carpenter will pick up the same hammer and go about their day building a house, never appreciating it as possessing any beauty.

 

It seems likely some swordsmiths considered themselves artists, even centuries ago.  Someone like Masamune surely knew their swords would never find their way into battle, and would be appreciated for the aesthetics of their craftsmanship alone (i.e. whether they realized it or not, considered themselves artists).  Other nameless smiths during the Sengoku period would have considered themselves craftsman, fueling the unending need for blades of war.

[eternal_newbie]

10 minutes ago, Tetsu said:

Someone like Masamune surely knew their swords would never find their way into battle, and would be appreciated for the aesthetics of their craftsmanship alone (i.e. whether they realized it or not, considered themselves artists).

 

I'm not entirely sure about that. My understanding is that Soshu blades were in fact highly regarded battlefield performers, which is why the particular visual markers unique to their school became held in such esteem by the bushi of the era. The Ishida Masamune in particular has two very large chunks of the mune taken out by other blades; the fact that it was able to survive such punishment without any (visible) structural weakening would have been of great interest to the warriors of the time (and indeed, to both artists and craftsmen today).

[Tetsu]

9 minutes ago, eternal_newbie said:

 

I'm not entirely sure about that. My understanding is that Soshu blades were in fact highly regarded battlefield performers, which is why the particular visual markers unique to their school became held in such esteem by the bushi of the era. The Ishida Masamune in particular has two very large chunks of the mune taken out by other blades; the fact that it was able to survive such punishment without any (visible) structural weakening would have been of great interest to the warriors of the time (and indeed, to both artists and craftsmen today).

The Japanese have often prioritized pragmatism.  If I was alive in the Yamato region during the Nanbokucho period, had a Masamune blade sitting on a shelf, and heard a noise outside my home in the middle of the night, I wouldn't be investigating empty handed.

[eternal_newbie]

For anyone who's interested in an account of a Masamune blade's performance in war, here's one named for a specific battlefield feat: https://markussesko.com/2013/06/25/the-kotegiri-masamune/

[Lewis B]

Or the Heshikiri-Hasebe. Or the Honjo Masamune (cut through a helmet). These blades were no cabinet queens.

https://japaneseswordlegends.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/the-heshikiri-hasebe/

 

and the Ishida Masamune (with deep kirikomi)