Description

Aizu Masamune is a sword forged by Masamune, the founder of the Sōshū-den tradition, and is an imperial possession (kōshitsu gomotsu) managed by the Imperial Household Agency. It came to be called "Aizu Masamune" from its transmission through a succession of great daimyo who ruled the Aizu region (present-day western Fukushima Prefecture) from the Sengoku through the Edo period—the Ashina clan, Date Masamune, Uesugi Kagekatsu, Gamō Ujisato, Katō Yoshiakira, and finally the Aizu Matsudaira family in the late Edo period.

Aizu Masamune is a sword with a blade length of approximately two shaku two sun (about 66 cm). The jigane exhibits finely mingled mokume-hada, and itame flow that imparts unified visual harmony to the blade. Thick, fine ji-nie endows the entire blade with deep luminosity like jade (suigyoku), and delicate chikei traverse the surface. The hamon, typified by Masamune's characteristic ō-gunome-midare, is forged with intense nie, displaying abundant kinsuji and sunagashi within the blade. Particularly impressive is the lively variation of the hamon toward the cutting tip—the section most highly prized by expert appraisers.

Aizu's sword culture has long upheld exacting standards, and the Aizu domain's sword collection during the Edo period (especially renowned under Matsudaira Katamori) was exceptional. Aizu Masamune was preserved with great care as an important treasure within that collection, surviving the Aizu War (1868) of the late Edo period while avoiding the flames of war, and has been transmitted to the present day—a fact that imbues the blade with historical drama. The sword is currently managed by the Imperial Household Agency as an imperial possession, with extremely limited opportunities for public display. A Hon'ami orikami certifying it as a genuine work by Masamune survives, granting it high scholarly value as precious primary material for research on the Sōshū-den tradition.

Legends & Stories

Aizu Masamune is associated with an intense legend from the Boshin War. As the new government forces closed in on Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle (Tsuruga Castle) during the war, a senior retainer is said to have held the Masamune to his breast inside the castle walls, declaring "This Masamune is the very soul of Aizu — it must not fall into the hands of the enemy." Knowing that the fall of the castle was inevitable, the retainer secretly buried the sword in a paulownia box beneath the floor, saying "Sleep until the time comes to restore Aizu's honor." When the war ended, a comrade secretly unearthed the blade, and it was passed on, protected by devoted people of Aizu, through the Meiji era and beyond. In Aizu tradition, there are those who say that when gazing at the hamon of the Masamune, the stone walls of Tsuruga Castle seem to appear within it — and the belief that the landscape and history of Aizu have soaked into the edge of the Masamune has taken deep root in the hearts of the region's people.