* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Musashi Masamune
武蔵正宗
Also known as: The Masamune transmitted in Musashi Province; the Musashi Plain Masamune
Description
Musashi Masamune is a tachi forged by Sōshū Masamune that was transmitted to a warrior family in Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, and parts of Kanagawa Prefecture) and is designated as an Important Art Object. The name "Musashi" is a provenance designation indicating that this tachi passed into the hands of a powerful warrior family in Musashi Province and was transmitted through successive generations; in modern appraisal, it has been certified as a genuine Masamune.
Masamune's signed and authenticated works are limited in number, and Musashi Masamune draws attention from sword researchers as one of them. Masamune is said to have principally forged tantō and katana (uchigatana).
The blade displays the hallmarks of the Sōshū tradition. The mihaba is moderately wide, the kissaki expands from medium to large, the curvature is shallow (suggesting the transitional phase toward the Nanbokuchō period), and the overall silhouette is heroic and impressive. The hamon is Masamune's characteristic ō-midare, with blazing nie, abundant kinsuji and sunagashi, and activity unfolding freely throughout the ha. The jigane flows in itame-hada with rich ji-nie and active jikei. The nakago has been suriage (shortened and polished), but the nomi-kiri signature surviving on the remaining portion has been confirmed as Masamune's by Hon'ami family appraisal documents. It is currently in the collection of the Japanese Sword Preservation Society (Museum of Fine Swords, Tokyo).
Legends & Stories
Musashi Masamune is associated with a distinctive legend transmitted among the warrior households of the Musashi Plain. The warrior who first held this sword is said either to have purchased it directly from Masamune, or to have obtained it as spoils of war during campaigns from Sagami. In any case, on the night that the warrior acquired the tachi, Masamune's spirit is said to have appeared to him in a dream, declaring: "This sword possesses a power as broad and rich as the earth of Musashi. So long as your descendants guard Musashi, this sword will guard your clan." From that time forward, Musashi Masamune was regarded as the "guardian sword of the Musashi Plain," the supreme family heirloom of the clan, and a ritual of transmission before the household shrine was performed at every change of headship. Even when the clan was scattered during the upheavals of the Bakumatsu period, it is said that this sword alone was never surrendered. After the Meiji era, the owners maintained the family precept — transmitted as an ancestral injunction — that "Musashi Masamune must never be sold, whatever the circumstances," and it is said to have remained in the family's hands without interruption to the present day. A further tradition holds that when enemies once attempted to seize this sword, "the sword became mysteriously heavy and could not be carried away" — and the belief that Masamune's swords possess a mystical will to choose the master they are meant to protect has been passed down in the story of Musashi Masamune as well.