* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Tachi and Ken Signed Muramasa, Tenbun 22 (Kodate Shrine)
太刀・剣 銘 勢州桑名藤原朝臣村正作（神舘神社）
Also known as: Muramasa Tachi and Ken of Kodate Shrine
Description
Overview
This set of a tachi and a ken signed Muramasa and dated the ninth month of Tenbun 22 (1553) is kept at Kodate Shrine in Kuwana. Mie Prefecture designated it a Tangible Cultural Property in 2016. The shrine's name is read locally as "Kodate", and is thought to derive from the Kandachi hall that stood in the Ise Shrine's sacred estate.
Signature and Dimensions
The signature reads "Seishū Kuwana Fujiwara-no-ason Muramasa saku, Tenbun 22, ninth month." Prefectural documents give blade lengths of about 60.5 cm for the tachi and about 39.1 cm for the ken. On both, the ridge surface of each side carries a carved "Shindachi" (kamidachi) engraving.
Significance
Kuwana also holds the Tenbun 12 (1543) Muramasa tachi of Kuwana Sōsha, and the prefecture designated both groups together in 2016. As works made for dedication to a shrine, they give clues to Muramasa's style and chronology in the Tenbun era. They are now deposited at the Kuwana City Museum.
Legends & Stories
Held at a Kuwana shrine whose name derives from an Ise Shrine hall, this tachi and ken set by Muramasa is dated 1553.