Kambe Taima

Kambe Taima is a tanto attributed to the Taima school of Yamato Province (present-day Nara), one of the meibutsu listed in the Kyoho Meibutsucho of 1719. It is unsigned but bears a red-ink "Taima" attribution by the Hon'ami family with the kao of Hon'ami Mitsutsune. It measures about 26.4 cm with a slight inward curvature and a width of roughly 2.65 cm.

The Taima school was one of the Five Schools of Yamato, a smithing group that arose near Taima-dera temple in Nara. It is known for a strongly masame jihada and a dignified suguha-based hamon — the refined style characteristic of Yamato smiths attached to temples and shrines.

The sobriquet "Kambe" derives from its first owner, Kambe Etchu-no-kami Sadanaga; combining the school name "Taima" with the owner's name "Kambe" yields "Kambe Taima."

According to the Kyoho Meibutsucho, the tanto passed from Kambe Sadanaga through later warrior owners and the Tokugawa military line to the Kishu Tokugawa house. In 1927 it is recorded to have been won by Imai Teijiro at an auction of the Tokyo Art Club.

A tale attached to the blade holds that it was to be bought for one gold coin, but because another coin was found by chance on the road, it effectively cost nothing; Hon'ami Koktoku is said to have appraised it at one hundred gold pieces. Combining a fine example of the refined Taima style with a Hon'ami attribution and provenance through shogunal and daimyo houses, Kambe Taima is an impeccable meibutsu and a valued reference work for studying the Taima school among the Five Schools of Yamato.