Tenbun Era

The Tenbun era (1532-1555) lies in the middle of the Sengoku period and was a turning point, an age that saw the end of the old era and the dawn of a new one, as the introduction of firearms from Portugal (1543) was about to dramatically transform tactics and the system of weaponry.

Master Smiths and Their Masterworks

The sword world of the Tenbun era was the age in which Fujiwara no Asomi Muramasa was active around the Daiei to Tenbun periods, and his blades' cutting quality was favored by Sengoku warriors. In the Moriyama Collapse of 1535 (Tenbun 4), it is recorded in the Mikawa Monogatari that Matsudaira Kiyoyasu was cut down by a retainer with a Muramasa blade, and later books also relate that he was cut in two with a single stroke from the right shoulder to the left armpit.

In the Izumi no Kami Kanesada lineage, the third-generation Kanesada, who followed Nosada, was called “Hikisada” because of the form of the character “sada” in his signature. Swords of the Yamato Kanabo school, whose first generation was said to have made blades around the Tenbun era, were prized by Sengoku-period warriors for their superior strength and cutting ability, though the shape of their blades was not refined.

In the Sōshū tradition, it is said that a smith who initially went by Masahiro was granted the character “tsuna” by Hōjō Ujitsuna and changed his name to Tsunahiro; thereafter, the successive Tsunahiro received the patronage of the Hōjō and Tokugawa clans.

Historical Context

The Tenbun era was a time when Sengoku daimyō such as Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, and Uesugi Kenshin rose to prominence, and when the relationship between firearms and swords was called into question. Nevertheless, smiths continued to produce practical and beautiful swords with the highest level of skill.