* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Inoshishigiri
猪切
Also known as: Sakai Tadatsugu's boar-cutting sword
Description
Overview
Inoshishigiri ("boar cutter") is an uchigatana said to have been made in the late Muromachi period by Fujiwara Masazane of the Mikawa Monju school, active in Mikawa Province. It is kept at the Mikawa Bushi no Yakata Ieyasu-kan in Okazaki, Aichi, and owned by Okazaki City.
Origin of the Name
The name comes from the time Sakai Tadatsugu, widely known as Tokugawa Ieyasu's foremost retainer, accompanied Ieyasu on a hunt and cut down a boar that appeared, using this sword. Tadatsugu had "Inoshishigiri" inlaid in gold on the tang.
Maker
Masazane of the Mikawa Monju school is said to have been linked to the Muramasa group of Kuwana in Ise, and the Tonbogiri, one of the Three Great Spears of Japan, is also attributed to him.
Provenance and Form
It passed through the line of Tadatsugu's seventh son Matsudaira Jinzaburo to the house of Sakai Hisashige, a chief retainer of Shonai Domain in the late Edo period. The scabbard inscription, including Tadatsugu's posthumous title "Senkyu-in", reads "Sword of Senkyu-in's renown". The blade is 70.6 cm long with a curvature of 1.9 cm; the front of the tang is signed "Masazane" and the reverse carries the gold-inlaid "Inoshishigiri".
Legends & Stories
A sword with which Sakai Tadatsugu is said to have cut down a boar on a hunt with Ieyasu.