Hachisuka Kotetsu

Hachisuka Kotetsu is one sword, renowned in particular for having been transmitted to the Hachisuka family, lords of Tokushima Domain, among the blades forged by Nagasone Kotetsu, who is hailed as the finest smith of the early Edo period. Kotetsu was an armorer in Echizen (present-day Fukui Prefecture), but around age 50, during the Meireki era (around 1656), he shifted from armorer to swordsmith, and his late-blooming talent blossomed, making him a renowned master in Edo who swept the age. He is one of the most highly regarded smiths of the shintō period, and his cutting performance became widely known in warrior society as "the Kotetsu cutting performance"; the Kaihō Kenshaku ranks him among the saijō ō-wazamono (highest grade for cutting ability), and he was rated, together with Horikawa Kunihiro, as the yokozuna of shintō. This sword has a blade length of 2 shaku 2 sun 8 bu (approximately 69.1 centimeters) and a sori of 3 bu, and its mune is iori-mune. The nakago bears an inscription reading "Nagasone Okisato Nyūdō Kotetsu," and it shows workmanship befitting the peak of Kotetsu's career. In the Edo period, it is recorded as having been held by the Hachisuka family of Tokushima Domain in Awa; it is now in private hands. It is a renowned piece (meibutsu) transmitted through the Hachisuka family, lords of Tokushima Domain. It is well known that Shinsengumi commander Kondō Isami favored a Kotetsu as his beloved sword, and this Kotetsu, formerly held by the Hachisuka family, also contributes to that reputation for famous blades.