Katō Kunihiro

加藤国広

Also known as: Katō Kunihiro; a representative work of Horikawa Kunihiro; the sword of Katō Kiyomasa

Smith: Horikawa Kunihiro
Era: Azuchi-Momoyama period
Type: Katana
Designation: Important Cultural Property
Location: Mitsui Memorial Museum, Chūō, Tokyo

Description

A Representative Work of Horikawa Kunihiro

Katō Kunihiro is a sword forged by the swordsmith Horikawa Kunihiro, who is known as the founder of the shintō (new swords). Its blade length is 2 shaku 2 sun 9 bu (about 69.4 cm). Because it was the sword of Katō Kiyomasa, it bears this name, and it is counted among Kunihiro's representative works.

Handed Down as a Bridal Trousseau Item

After Kiyomasa's death, his daughter Yaso-hime is said to have married Tokugawa Yorinobu, the tenth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and to have brought the sword to the Kii Tokugawa family as part of her trousseau, together with other swords that Kiyomasa had cherished. After Yorinobu became the founder of the Kii domain, the sword was handed down for generations as a treasure of the Kii Tokugawa family.

From the Kii Tokugawa Family to the Mitsui Family

The sword remained with the Kii Tokugawa family until the late Edo period. When it was offered for sale in the modern era, the Mitsui family acquired it, and it is now in the collection of the Mitsui Memorial Museum.