Higo Masamune

Higo Masamune is a wakizashi by Masamune that passed down through the Hosokawa clan of Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), and is preserved as a family treasure at the Eisei Bunko Museum—the repository of the former Hosokawa daimyō collection. Approximately 42 centimeters in length, it is a commanding wakizashi, concentrated with the essential qualities of the Sōshū tradition. The jigane shows finely interlocking itame grain with deeply permeating ji-nie, displaying the complex surface texture variously described as 'matsu-kawa-hada' (pine-bark grain) or 'nashiji-hada' (pear-skin grain)—both hallmarks of Masamune's jigane. The hamon, with a predominantly composed suguha base, is enlivened throughout by vigorous kinsuji, sunagashi, and uchinoke working in the tempered zone, expressing the rich activity characteristic of the Sōshū tradition. The Hosokawa family, famous sword collectors since the Sengoku warlord Hosokawa Tadaoki (husband of Lady Gracia), accumulated numerous masterpieces, and Higo Masamune held the preeminent position among them across generations. Among the vast collection of art objects and documents administered by the Eisei Bunko Museum (the former Hosokawa library), this blade stands as the foremost of the sword holdings, designated an Important Cultural Property.