Kokin Denju no Tachi

What Is the Kokin Denju no Tachi?

The Kokin Denju no Tachi is a tachi made by the swordsmith Yukihira, who was active in Bungo Province (present-day Ōita Prefecture) from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period. Its formal name is "Tachi, mei Bungo no kuni Yukihira saku," and it is designated a National Treasure together with the kawazutsumi tachi koshirae (leather-wrapped tachi mounting) attached to it as an accessory (tsuketari). It is currently held by the Eisei Bunko in Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo. The maker, Yukihira, is known as one of the earliest swordsmiths to apply intricate blade carving to curved swords (wantō), and his skill has long been highly regarded.

Origin of the Name: Kokin Denju and Hosokawa Yūsai

The name of the sword derives from Kokin Denju, the secret transmission of waka poetry. Kokin Denju was the highest secret of the poetic arts, a transmission from teacher to disciple of the inner meaning of the Kokin Wakashū, and it was passed on only to a select few.

In Keichō 5 (1600), amid the turmoil preceding the Battle of Sekigahara, Hosokawa Yūsai (Fujitaka), the foremost cultural figure of his day who was also a military commander, held out in Tanabe Castle in Tango. Yūsai was at that time the sole person embodying Kokin Denju, so his death would have meant that the waka tradition would be cut off. Concerned about this, Emperor Go-Yōzei's imperial command brought about a settlement, and Yūsai surrendered the castle. At this time, Yūsai conferred Kokin Denju, as a token of gratitude for the settlement, upon Karasumaru Mitsuhiro, a court noble who had been one of the imperial envoys, and it is said that on this occasion he gave this tachi. This is the origin of the name "Kokin Denju no Tachi."

Provenance

The tachi was subsequently passed down in the Karasumaru family, which protected it throughout the Edo period. In Meiji 27 (1894) it came into the possession of Marquis Nakayama Takamaro, and in Shōwa 4 (1929) it was put up for auction by the Nakayama family. It was then purchased by Hosokawa Moritatsu through Honma Junji, and so it returned to the hands of the Hosokawa family, which has ties to Bungo, the land that produced Yukihira. It was designated a National Treasure in Shōwa 26 (1951).

Style and Characteristics

Yukihira's tachi display an elegant and dignified form. The jigane is tight ko-itame with nie. The hamon is primarily ko-midare, with sunagashi, and is greatly yakiotoshi just above the machi. Many of Yukihira's works bear blade carvings such as kurikara and Sanskrit characters (bonji), and they convey his distinction as a pioneer of carving on wantō. Beyond its value as a weapon, it is a famous sword that has carved its name into both sword history and literary history, as a testament to Kokin Denju, a major event in Japanese cultural history.