Evangelion and Japanese Swords - Osaka 2013

Written by D. R. on 08 Oct 2013

Any fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion may already be aware of just how easy it is to immerse yourself into the world of Eva during a trip to Japan. To nicely illustrate this, on my recent visit to Japan, I was fortunate enough to stumble across the Evangelion and Japanese Swords Exhibition which was being showcased at the Osaka Museum of History from 3rd July to 16th September 2013. I spotted a poster one day while passing through Shin Osaka station and decided to head over and take a look. It turned out to be well worth the train ride and subsequent short walk. Compared to other comparable Japanese events and exhibitions entry was a pretty reasonable ¥800 for adults, which is about £5.

The exhibition clearly forms part of the of the extensive promotional activities supporting the release of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, with the Evangelion Store taking up another room almost as large as the exhibition itself. The film itself came out in Japanese cinemas last year and on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan earlier this year; it will hit these shores in October courtesy of Scotland Loves Anime and Sci-Fi London, then in November at Leeds International Film Festival. However, perhaps surprisingly, the other purpose of the exhibition is to promote the Japanese sword industry. A clear hint towards this can be traced back to the exhibition's original location at the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum in Okayama. The exhibition has been touring Japan for around a year now and carries with it the hopes and aspirations of the Japanese sword industry.

Further investigation into the origins of the exhibition indicates that modern Japanese swords are simply not selling in the current climate, and when they do sell it is for a fraction of the value they once achieved. It is estimated that there are only around 300 modern swordsmiths currently plying their trade in Japan; using traditional techniques they are producing a little over 1000 swords each year between them. The hope is that by showcasing the beauty of such wonderfully crafted swords alongside the artwork and weapons from the popular Evangelion franchise, a whole new audience will be introduced to the wonder of Japanese swords.

The exhibition aims to teach you a little about the art of modern Japanese sword-making. There are showcases full of real life versions of weapons from the Rebuild of Evangelion films, as well as designs inspired by them. The centre piece of the exhibition is, of course, the 3.3 meter long, 22 kilogram recreation of the Lance of Longinus - all crafted by highly skilled Japanese swordsmiths.

The exhibition provided a floor plan in English, as well as English descriptions of the different sword types and a description of the sword making process.