Kuki Masamune

Kuki Masamune is a mumei tantō traditionally attributed to the master smith Masamune, a smith of Sōshū (Sagami Province, present-day Kanagawa Prefecture) in the late Kamakura period, and it is designated a National Treasure. Its blade length is approximately 24.8 cm. Although it is unsigned, the Hon'ami family's appraisal determined it to be the work of Masamune, and it is one of the famous swords recorded under the name “Kuki Masamune” in the Kyōhō Meibutsuchō. The name derives from the fact that the Kuki family, daimyō of Toba in Shima, possessed this tantō. It is currently held by the Hayashibara Museum of Art in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture.

The Maker Masamune and the Character of This Blade

The smith traditionally credited as the maker, Okazaki Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, was active in Kamakura in Sagami Province during the late Kamakura period. He is regarded as the peak of Japanese swordsmithing history, the master who brought the Sōshū tradition to maturity. Kuki Masamune is a mumei tantō with a blade length of approximately 24.8 cm. Its jigane shows well-developed itame-hada, with abundant ji-nie and frequent chikei. The hamon is notare mixed with gunome, with well-formed ashi, deep nioi, and dense nie with sunagashi running through it. The bōshi is midare-komi with hakikake, and it is long, with yakisage. It is a single sword that clearly displays Masamune's style of strong, spirited nie, and although it is unsigned, its quality earned it designation as a National Treasure.

Origin of the Name

The name “Kuki Masamune” derives from the fact that the Kuki family, daimyō of the Toba domain in Shima, possessed this Masamune. The Kuki clan produced Kuki Yoshitaka, who served Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a naval commander. In the generation of his son, Kuki Moritaka, the family preserved its house by siding with the Tokugawa. It is a typical example of a meibutsu name that takes the name of the samurai family that possessed the tantō.

Provenance

This blade received its name because it was possessed by Kuki Moritaka (Nagato-no-kami). Moritaka presented this Masamune to Tokugawa Ieyasu. It later passed to Tokugawa Yorinobu, founder of the Kii Tokugawa house, and was then inherited by Matsudaira Yorizumi, Yorinobu's son, who became lord of Saijō Domain in Iyo. Thereafter it was carefully transmitted as a treasured heirloom of the Saijō Matsudaira family of Iyo.

National Treasure Designation and Present Collection

Kuki Masamune was designated a National Treasure on February 19, Shōwa 32 (1957). Its provenance passes through the hands of the Kuki, Tokugawa, and Matsudaira families, powerful warrior houses that spanned the period from the Sengoku to Edo, and it is one of the representative mumei tantō of Masamune. It is currently held by the Hayashibara Museum of Art in Okayama City, based on the collection of businessman Hayashibara Ichirō, and it is known as one of the museum's representative treasures.