Unboxing a Japanese Field Marshal’s Badge

[Nick Komiya]

Unboxing a Japanese Field Marshal’s Badge

Unlike in Germany, a Field Marshal in Japan was not a rank, but a full General of the Army or an Admiral of the Navy with a lifetime membership to the Emperor’s Council of Marshals.

It wasn’t always like that, however, as for a brief one year period, in the very early days of the Japanese Army, namely between 1872 and 1873, Field Marshal did exist as a rank. On paper, there was even also a rank above that, which was Grand Marshal, a post never taken by anyone before it, too, was abolished in 1873.

However, in February of 1889, the title of Grand Marshal made a comeback in the newly promulgated Imperial Constitution, which assigned that title to the Emperor, as Commander-in-Chief.

Then 9 years later, on 19th January 1898, the title “Field Marshal” also got revived, this time, not as a rank, but as a membership title for Generals selected into the circle of military advisors for the Emperor, his Council of Marshals. At this stage, this body of councilors consisted of 3 army generals and one navy admiral.

They, however, were not accorded any visible distinction from regular generals or admirals. So on 8th of April 1898, the Ministers of the Army and Navy jointly petitioned the Prime Minister to hold a Cabinet meeting that would endorse a badge of distinction to be introduced by the Emperor as an edict.

The proposed badge design featured both the paulownia and chrysanthemum crests in the middle, symbolizing the Emperor and the Imperial family. Then two rising sun banners were shown crossed, tied together at the middle of the pole. It is easy to miss, however, that the right side flag actually represented the Army and the left one the Navy.

This you can tell, not by any offset of the orb, but by the pole-top ornaments, the right being a chrysanthemum from the army regimental banner and the left one a simple golden globe, representing the naval ensign.

Oh, I belatedly noticed when enlarging the photo that the right flag is also properly purple-fringed as an army banner should be.

This proposal was duly signed off by all Cabinet Ministers on 16th May and got the national seal and Emperor Meiji’s signature on 24th May as Edict 96, making it into the next day’s gazette issue.

Thus on the rear of the badge is the inscription “Established in May in the 31st Year of Meiji”. The badge was to be worn on the right chest just below nipple level.

The example I show in the photos below was made in 1917. Unfortunately the leftmost flower had fallen off and is missing, but the full packaging more than makes up for that flaw.

[Nick Komiya]

King George's Gensui-to


You must all know that the badge was later followed by a Field Marshal’s Sword on 28th August 1918.

However, I bet you didn’t know that one of those is in the possession of the British Royal Family.

What happened was that the Royals of both countries presented the title of field marshal to each other in January 1918. So Emperor Taisho presented one of these to King George of England.

The blade of that particular sword was forged by the master smith Sadakazu Gassan 月山貞一, already over 80 years of age, polished by Shuhachi Ishikawa 石川周八, Saya done by Magosaburo Aoki 青木孫三郎, and decorative fittings arranged by Shigesuke Komatsuzaki 小松崎茂助 of Suya Shoten.'

[ghp95134]

月山貞一

Gassan Sadakazu. OMG!!! I believe he and Horii Toshihide were co-equals.

SADAKAZU (貞一), Genji (元治, 1864-1865), Settsu – “Gassan Unryūshi Sadakazu” (月山雲龍子貞一), “Naniwa ni oite Kinpō-jōhen Gassan Sadakazu kore o tsukuru” (於浪花金宝城辺月山貞一造之), “Gassan Sadakazu” (月山貞一), “Gassan Hayato Minamoto Sadakazu tsukuru” (月山隼人源貞一造), “Naniwa-jū Gassan Unryūshi Minamoto Sadakazu” (浪華住月山雲龍子源貞一), “Naniwa-jū Gassan Yagorō Sadakazu seitan hori-dōsaku” (浪華住月山弥五 郎貞一精鍛彫同作, “carefully forged and carvings engraved by Gassan Yagorō Sadakazu from Naniwa”), “Dainippon Gassan Sadakazu horimono-dōsaku” (大日本月山貞一彫物同作), real name Gassan Yagorō (月山弥五郎), he was born in the second month of Tenpō seven (天保, 1836) in the village of Sugoshi (須越) in Ōmi´s Inugami district (犬上), he was adopted by Gassan Sadayoshi (貞吉) at the age of seven and was appointed teishitsu-gigei´in (帝室技芸員) in Meiji 39 (明治, 1906), this rank was about the predecessor of the modern ningen-kokuhō and Sadakazu was besides of Miyamoto Kanenori (宮本包則) the only swordsmith who held this important rank, his gō were Kōkensai (光顕斎), Unryūshi (雲龍子), and Suiyūshi (水勇子), he died on July 11th 1918 at the age of 84, we know dated blades from the third year of Kaei (嘉永, 1850) – he was 15 years old at that time – until his year of death in 1918, that means he was about 70 years active as a swordsmith, he mastered all traditions and is considered together with Honjō Yoshitane (本荘義胤) and Kurihara Nobuhide (栗原信秀) as the greatest horimono artists of the bakumatsu and early gendaitō era, he also played an important role in the transmission of the craft of sword forging to the later gendaitō smiths, so some count Suishinshi Masahide as founder, and Gassan Sadakazu als last great master of the shinshintō, his blades have a rather long nagasa, a shallow sori, a wide mihaba, and a chū or an ō-kissaki, that means altogether a magnificent shape, but also some sugata in the style of the early Muromachi period are known, blades made during the Keiō era (慶応, 1865-1868) are especially large, he made many copies of kotō works and worked after the ban on wearing swords also for the military where more narrow and shorter blades were in demand, he forged the ayasugu-hada of the Gassan school, a masame of the Yamato tradition, or also a mokume, ko-mokume, or itame, the hamon is a beautiful chōji-midare in nioi-deki with a narrow yakihaba and long ashi in the style of the Ōei-Bizen school (応永備前), a ko-chōji-midare in ko-nie-deki, a chū-suguha-hotsure in the style of the Yamashiro tradition, or a gunome-midare with thick nie and nioi and plentiful hataraki in the style of the Sōshū tradition, the bōshi is maru, midare-komi or yakitsume, various horimono are known, for example dragons, dragon and a plum tree, ken-maki-ryū, waterfall, Fudō-Myōō, bonji and many more, all done very elaborate and skilful, some remind of horimono of Ikkanshi Tadatsuna (一竿子忠綱), his tangs are long and carefully finished, they have a kurijiri and sujikai-yasurime with keshō, during the Keiō and Meiji eras he signed with a characteristical koku´in, in Taishō five (1916) he forged a tachi on the occasion of the enthronement of emperor Yoshihito (嘉仁, 1879-1926), jōjō-saku

And from this source:
Japanese swords of the 20th century have indeed had a chequered history. In the very early years very few swordsmiths could earn a living exclusively forging blades, and the few that did usually made copies of Koto (old swords) for the collectors of the time. Although the Emperor Meiji was a patron of the sword and appointed Gassan Sadakazu (the 1st generation) and Miyamoto Kanenori to the status of 'Teishitsu Gigei' (the equivalent of todays Ningen Kokuho - Living National Treasure) few orders for swords were made until the militarists began to take hold of Japan in the Taisho and Showa period. It was then that the Gunto (army sword) whose dimensions were generally regulated to about 2 Shaku 2 Sun, was popularised. The swords of the Nihon To Tanren Kai of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, together with the swords of the Denshusho and those of Horii Toshihide of Muroran, are among the best and most representative of the pre-Pacific War Showa period i.e. 1926-41. Such traditionally forged and water quenched blades are known as Gendai-to (modern swords).