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Perhaps one of the most famed Kotetsu blades was a fake: that of Kondō Isami, the commander of the late Edo-era patrol force called Shinsengumi.However, this sword was not a Kotetsu, but instead a sword made by the foremost smith of that era (known in Japanese swordmaking history as the shinshin-to era), Minamoto Kiyomaro, and bearing a forged Kotetsu signature made by master signature-faker ...
[3] [4] The list presents 110 swords and 12 sword mountings from ancient to feudal Japan, spanning from the late Kofun to the Muromachi period. The objects are housed in Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, museums or held privately. The Tokyo National Museum houses the largest number of these national treasures, with 20 of the 122. [4]
The katana belongs to the nihontō family of swords, and is distinguished by a blade length (nagasa) of more than 2 shaku, approximately 60 cm (24 in). [9] Katana can also be known as dai or daitō among Western sword enthusiasts, although daitō is a generic name for any Japanese long sword, literally meaning "big sword". [10]
The hand guard, or tsuba, on Japanese swords (except for certain 20th century sabers which emulate Western navies') is small and round, made of metal, and often very ornate. (See koshirae . There is a pommel at the base known as a kashira , and there is often a decoration under the braided wrappings called a menuki .
Ieyasu himself owned two swords forged by Muramasa and left them to his family; as of 2013, the Owari-Tokugawa family still holds one of the two as an heirloom. [5] Honda Tadakatsu, one of the Four Greatest Generals under Ieyasu, wielded Tonbogiri, a legendary spear forged by Fujiwara Masazane, who studied under the Muramasa school. [5]
The "National Treasures" of Japan includes a list of swords of "especially high historical or artistic value". The Important Cultural Property of Japan, established in 1950, also includes items, including swords, "judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people". [44]
The Tenka-Goken (天下五剣, "Five [Greatest] Swords under Heaven") are a group of five Japanese swords. [1] Three are National Treasures of Japan, one an Imperial Property, and one a holy relic of Nichiren Buddhism. Among the five, some regard Dōjigiri as "the yokozuna of all Japanese swords" along with Ōkanehira (ja:大包平). [2]
In 1934 the Japanese government issued a military specification for the shin guntō (new army sword), the first version of which was the Type 94 Katana, and many machine- and hand-crafted swords used in World War II conformed to this and later shin guntō specifications. Military Swords of Imperial Japan (Guntō)
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