* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Aoki Kanemoto
青木兼元
Also known as: Magara-giri Kanemoto; Katana inscribed 'Kanemoto'
Description
Aoki Kanemoto is a uchigatana (single-handed sword) forged by Seki Magoroku Kanemoto, the celebrated Muromachi-period swordsmith of Seki in Mino Province (present-day Seki City, Gifu Prefecture). Designated an Important Art Object, it is considered one of the finest surviving works by Kanemoto — a smith ranked just below the "Three Great Works" (Masamune, Yoshimitsu, Yoshihiro) in the traditional hierarchy of Japanese sword-making excellence.
Magoroku Kanemoto (also known as the second-generation Kanemoto) is the most renowned swordsmith of the Mino school and is celebrated to this day under the popular name "Seki no Magoroku." His signature stylistic feature is the "Sanbonsugi" (three-cedar) hamon — a distinctive gunome pattern in which three peaks consistently repeat in groups, embodying the martial elegance of the Mino tradition. The Aoki Kanemoto bears a two-character "Kanemoto" inscription on the omote (outer face) and displays the Mino school's characteristic jigane of itame- and mokume-hada with rich ji-nie. The hamon exemplifies the celebrated Sanbonsugi gunome-midare, with fine, even nie and a bōshi that returns straight without deviation.
The blade length is 70.6 cm (approximately two shaku three sun three bu), a standard fighting length, and the blade presents the well-balanced silhouette with pronounced shinogi-ji (ridge line) that defines the practical aesthetic of the Sengoku-period cutting sword.
The name "Aoki Kanemoto" derives from the Battle of Anegawa (1570, Genki 1), where Aoki Kazushige — a warrior on the Tokugawa side — used this sword to kill the Asakura champion Magara Naotsugu (and his brother Naosumi), formidable warriors known for wielding the large blade called the "Jirō Tachi." News of the feat spread quickly among Sengoku warriors. After Aoki Kazushige's death, the blade passed by his will to Niwa Nagashige, the eldest son of Niwa Nagahide, and remained in the hands of the Kodama-Niwa family until modern times. It was designated an Important Art Object in September 1939.
Legends & Stories
Aoki Kanemoto is most well-known for the legend of the deadly confrontation with the Magara brothers at the Battle of Anegawa. Magara Naokatsu was feared as one of the most outstanding warriors of the Sengoku period, wielding a giant ōdachi called the "Tarō Tachi," and it is said that several military commanders were cut down in a single sweep of the Tarō Tachi on the battlefield. Aoki Isshige challenged Naokatsu head-on; according to tradition, the sharp cutting power of the Aoki Kanemoto and the spiritual essence dwelling in its "three-cedar" hamon met Naokatsu's ōdachi full-force, snapped it in two, and then drove forward to slay Naokatsu. It is also said that military chronicles contain the record: "The Kanemoto blade flew straight, like the three-cedar pattern, and took Naokatsu's head." Moreover, there is a tradition that on the night Magoroku Kanemoto completed the forging of the Aoki Kanemoto, shadows of three cedar trees appeared reflected on the grinding stone in the workshop. Kanemoto took this as the will of the gods and incorporated the three-cedar pattern into his blade, and among the sword-making families of Seki, the tradition that the three-cedar hamon derives from this divine sign has been passed down. Furthermore, during the time this blade was kept in the Niwa family storehouse, one night the sound of the blade ringing of its own accord was heard from within the storehouse. When checked the following morning, the blade showed no damage, but several days later, urgent news arrived informing of a threat to the master. The legend that "the Aoki Kanemoto vibrates to forewarn its master of impending danger" is said to have been passed down as a family tradition of the Niwa household.