Kanakiri Nagamitsu

鉋切長光

Also known as: Kanakiri — Tachi by Nagamitsu, Beloved Sword of Magara Naotaka, Important Cultural Property

Smith

Nagamitsu

Era

Mid-Kamakura period (late 13th century)

Type

Tachi

Designation

Important Art Object

Location

Private collection (previously exhibited at the Japanese Sword Museum and other institutions)

Description

Kanakiri Nagamitsu is a ko-tachi forged by Nagamitsu, the representative swordsmith of the Bizen Osafune school, designated an Important Art Object. The distinctive appellation "Kanakiri" (plane-cutter) is said to derive from a legend in which the owner, at the foot of Mt. Ibuki in Ōmi Province, slew a demon disguised as a carpenter; the blade cut through even the carpenter's plane, earning the sword its name.

Kanakiri Nagamitsu entered the Tokugawa family through a presentation by Gamo Tadakō to the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in Kanei 1 (1624), and is now housed in the Tokugawa Museum (Mito), a public-interest incorporated foundation.

The blade displays the typical late-Kamakura tachi form associated with Nagamitsu, with well-balanced width and curvature and a refined, elegant appearance. The jigane is primarily itame with mokume (wood-grain pattern) intermixed, displaying vivid and clear utsuri. The hamon is based on gunome-chōji with ko-chōji and pointed edges mixed in, displaying a calm gathering of nie with a bright, keen nioi-guchi — embodying the "refined brilliance" characteristic of Nagamitsu's work. Near the monouchi, the hamon is particularly rich, with kinsuji and sunagashi appearing throughout, offering numerous points of appreciation.

Legends & Stories

Kanagiri Nagamitsu is associated with a strange tale that has been handed down, which became the origin of its alternate name. When the sword's owner Matagorō was walking at the foot of Mount Ibuki in Ōmi Province with a carpenter whom he knew, that carpenter suddenly transformed into a fearsome form and attacked. When Matagorō drew the Nagamitsu at his waist and struck, he cleanly severed in two the plane (woodworking plane) that the carpenter held, and at that very moment the carpenter's figure vanished. It is said that from this tale of 'cutting even a plane in two,' the alternate name 'Kanagiri' arose, and it was passed down among warriors as a faith in the sharpness of the blade brought forth by Nagamitsu's forging technique. Regarding its lineage, during the Sengoku period it was transmitted from Sasaki (Rokkaku) Ujitsuna, guardian of Ōmi Province, to Yoshisada; later it passed into the hands of Oda Nobunaga, who granted it to his senior retainer Niwa Nagahide, and it is said that it subsequently came to be possessed by Gamo Ujisato.