Masamune
Masamune, also known as Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, is widely recognized as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tantō respectively, in the Soshu tradition. No exact dates are known for Masamune's life. It is generally agreed that he made most of his swords between 1288 and 1328. Some stories list his family name as Okazakii, but some experts believe this is a fabrication to enhance the standing of the Tokugawa family.
Masamune is believed to have worked in Sagami Province during the last part of the Kamakura period, and it is thought that he was trained by swordsmiths from Bizen and Yamashiro provinces, such as Saburo Kunimune, Awataguchi Kunitsuna and Shintōgo Kunimitsu. He was the father of Hikoshiro Sadamune, also a famous Sōshū master.
An award for swordsmiths called the Masamune Prize is awarded at the Japanese Sword Making Competition. Although not awarded every year, it is presented to a swordsmith who has created an exceptional work.
Style
The swords of Masamune possess a reputation for superior beauty and quality, remarkable in a period where the steel necessary for swords was often impure. He is considered to have brought to perfection the art of "nie".Masamune studied under Shintōgo Kunimitsu and made blades in suguha, but he made notare hamon, where the finish on the leading edge of blade slowly undulates where it was quenched. There are also some blades with ko-midare, a style which appears to have been copied from the Old Bizen and Hōki Province styles. His works are well-characterized by striking chikei, kinsuji and nie.
Swords created by Masamune often are referred to with the smith's name and often with a name for the individual sword as well. The "Honjo Masamune", a symbol of the Tokugawa shogunate and passed down from shōgun to shōgun, is perhaps the best known Masamune sword.
Signed works of Masamune are rare. The examples "Fudo Masamune", "Kyōgoku Masamune", and "Daikoku Masamune" are accepted as his genuine works. Judging from his style, he was active from the late Kamakura period to the Nanboku-chō period.
His swords are the most frequently cited among those listed in the Kyōho Meibutsu Cho, a catalogue of excellent swords in the collections of daimyō edited during the Kyōhō era by the Hon'ami family of sword appraisers and polishers. The catalogue was created on the orders of the Tokugawa Yoshimune of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1714 and consists of three books. The first book, known as the Nihon Sansaku, is a list of the three greatest swordsmiths in the eyes of Toyotomi Hideyoshi including Etchu Matsukura Go Umanosuke Yoshihiro, Awataguchi Toshiro Yoshimitsu, and lists forty-one blades by Masamune. The three books together list sixty-one blades by Masamune. There are far more blades listed for Masamune than the next two swordsmiths combined. It is known that Hideyoshi had a passion for Soshu swordsmiths which may explain this. A third of all swords listed are Soshu blades by many of the greatest Soshu masters including Masamune's students.
Legends of Masamune and Muramasa
A legend tells of a test where Muramasa challenged his master, Masamune, to see who could make a finer sword. They both worked tirelessly, and when both swords were finished, they decided to test the results. The contest was for each to suspend the blades in a small creek with the cutting edge facing against the current. Muramasa's sword, the Juuchi Yosamu cut everything that passed its way; fish, leaves floating down the river, the very air which blew on it. Highly impressed with his pupil's work, Masamune lowered his sword, the Yawarakai-Te, into the current and waited patiently. Only leaves were cut. However, the fish swam right up to it, and the air hissed as it gently blew by the blade. After a while, Muramasa began to scoff at his master for his apparent lack of skill in the making of his sword. Smiling to himself, Masamune pulled up his sword, dried it, and sheathed it. All the while, Muramasa was heckling him for his sword's inability to cut anything. A monk, who had been watching the whole ordeal, walked over and bowed low to the two sword masters. He then began to explain what he had seen.In another account of the story, both blades cut the leaves that went down on the river's current equally well, but the leaves would stick to the blade of Muramasa whereas they would slip on past Masamune's after being sliced. Or alternatively both leaves were cut, but those cut by Masamune's blade would reform as it traveled down the stream. Yet another version has leaves being sliced by Muramasa's blade while the leaves were repelled by Masamune's, and another again has leaves being sliced by Muramasa's blade and healed by Masamune's.
In yet another story Muramasa and Masamune were summoned to make swords for the shōgun or emperor, and the finished swords were held in a waterfall. The result is the same as the other stories, and Masamune's swords are deemed holy swords. In one version of the story Muramasa is killed for creating evil swords.
While all known legends of the two ever having met are historically impossible, both smiths are widely regarded as symbols for their respective eras.
Students
Masamune is believed to have trained a great number of sword smiths; 15 are known, 10 of whom are considered to be the Juttetsu or "Ten Famous Students" or "10 Great Disciples of Masamune".Great Juttetsu
Chogi
Although probably not a direct student of Masamune because of the dates when he was forging, his works are greatly influenced by Masamune's work and the Soshu tradition as well as the work of the Soden Bizen swordsmiths. Though the kanji characters are pronounced in Japanese as 'Nagayoshi', by convention the Chinese pronunciation of 'Chogi' is used for this smith and a handful of others.
Kanemitsu
Considered to have created some of the sharpest swords ever known, he is one of a handful of smiths rated at Sai-jo O-wazamono with famous swords named Kabutowari, Ishikiri, and Teppokiri as relayed in Fujishiro's writings. Kanemitsu produced swords used by renowned men and generals. He likely was not taught directly by Masamune, however, but was influenced by the Soshu, crafting swords in addition to serving himself as a leader in the Soden Bizen revolution.
Shizu Saburo Kaneuji
Lived in Yamato province before going to Mino to study under Masamune where his style radically changed. His swords are most like those of Masamune and quite often confused with his. The Mishina school can trace its history back to Kaneuji and Masamune.
Kinju
Kinju, like Chogi, by convention is pronounced in Chinese. He is also known as Kaneshige using the Japanese pronunciation of his name. He and Kaneuji are founders of the Mino style. He was a monk at the Seisen-ji in Tsuruga and led to the creation of Echizen swordmaking like Kuniyuki, moving to Mino around the time of Ryakuo creating the Seki tradition.
Kunishige
Created the Hasebe school producing swords in the style of the second period of Soshu and Yamashiro. His swords are considered by some to be equal to Akihiro and Hiromitsu. He created the Heshikiri Hasebe listed in the Kyoho Meibutsu Cho, owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and then by Oda Nobunaga. It bears a gold appraisal inlay of Honami Kotoku called a Kinzogan. Today the sword is a family heirloom of the Kuroda Daimyō Ke. The sword takes its name from the story of Oda Nobunaga drawing it to cut through a table to kill Kannai, a tea master who betrayed him.
Kunitsugu
Also goes by the name Kamakura Rai as he is the grandson of Rai Kuniyuki. The influence of the Soshu and Yamashiro traditions can be observed in his works.
Saemonzaburo
Believed to go by the name Yasuyoshi but signed his work using the first two letters of his given name. Considered by some to be one of the greatest of Masamune's students. As well as being a Soshu swordsmith he also created the Chikuzen tradition.
Saeki Norishige
Historically considered one of the best of Masamune's students, he is numbered among the Juttetsu. However, current research indicates that he was a senior student to Masamune, junior to Yukimitsu, under the great teacher Shintōgo Kunimitsu. He, like Go, hailed from Etchu province and is well known as the only smith to have mastered the style of matsukawa-hada, making his work unique.
Go Yoshihiro
Very few works exist by this swordsmith because of his death at age 27. No known signed works exist. He is believed to have gone by the name of Go Yoshihiro or simply Go, the name of the town from which he came. As well as being a Soshu swordsmith he is a member of the Etchu tradition. He is considered to have the highest skill in forging swords among the Masamune Juttetsu .
Naotsuna
Many theories exist that he may in fact have been a student of Saemonzaburo among others. His work is considered by many to have been influenced by Soshu even if not taught by Masamune directly, he is also influenced by the Soden Bizen and Iwami province style.
Other students
- Hiromitsu : Along with Akihiro brought about the second period of the Soshu style.
- Sadamune: A student and possibly son or adopted son of Masamune. Like his father he left no signed work but is considered peerless in the Soshu tradition after Masamune.
- Akihiro : A direct student of Masamune, along with Hiromitsu was responsible for refining the Soshu style to create the Soshu second period.
Swords
Honjō Masamune
The Honjō Masamune represented the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period and was passed down from one shōgun to another. It is one of the best known of the swords created by Masamune and is believed to be among the finest Japanese swords ever made. It was made a Japanese National Treasure in 1939.The name Honjō possibly came about by the sword's connection to General Honjō Shigenaga who gained the sword in battle. Shigenaga was attacked by Umanosuke who already possessed a number of trophy heads. Shigenaga was attacked with the Honjō Masamune which split his helmet, but he survived and took the sword as a prize. The blade had a number of chips from the great battle but was still usable. It was kept by Shigenaga until he was sent to Fushimi Castle around 1592.
Shigenaga was later forced to sell the sword to Toyotomi Hidetsugu, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nephew and retainer. It was bought for 13 Mai, 13 ōban, which was 13 large gold coins. The blade was later valued in the Kyoho Meibutsu Cho at 1,000 Mai. It then went to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Shimazu Yoshihiro, again to Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Tokugawa Yorinobu, and finally Tokugawa Ietsuna. It remained in the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family, the last known owner being Tokugawa Iemasa at the end of World War II.
Under the United States occupation at the end of World War II, all production of nihontō with edges was banned except under police or government permit. Apparently, Tokugawa Iemasa gave the Honjō Masamune and 14 other swords to a police station at Mejiro in December 1945. Shortly thereafter in January 1946, the Mejiro police gave these swords to a man identified as "Sgt. Coldy Bimore" of the Foreign Liquidations Commission of AFWESPAC. In an episode of Expedition Unknown, Josh Gates traveled to Japan in search of the Honjō Masamune and learned that there were no records of a "Sgt. Coldy Bimore" listed to have received the sword. The Honjō Masamune is the most important of the missing Japanese swords, and its current location remains unknown, but there are theories of who may possess the sword.