* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Ōmihara
大三原
Also known as: Ōmihara; the only Mihara-school work in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō
- Smith
- Masahiro (son of Mihara Masaie)
- Era
- Nanbokuchō period
- Type
- Tachi
- Designation
- Important Cultural Property (designated June 22, 1955)
- Location
- Tokyo National Museum
Description
Masahiro of the Mihara School
Ōmihara is a tachi attributed to Masahiro, a swordsmith active in Bingo Province (present-day Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture) during the Nanbokuchō period. It is a single work by Masahiro, traditionally held to be the son of Masaie, the founder of the Mihara school. With a blade length of about 80.9 cm and a curvature of 2.6 cm, it is a notably long tachi, and it is named with the character "Ō" (great) for this reason. It is also known as the only work of the Mihara school recorded in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō.
From Toyotomi Hideyoshi to the Asano Family
The tachi was originally owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Hideyoshi's death in Keichō 3 (1598), it is said to have been distributed as a bequest and given to Asano Yoshinaga, Lord of Kii (Kii-no-kami). The Asano family was later transferred from Kii to the Aki-Hiroshima domain, and the family continued to hand down the tachi throughout the Edo period.
The Gold-Inlaid Inscription
The tang bears a gold-inlaid inscription by Hon'ami Kōtoku reading "Ōmihara, futatsu-dō, bestowed upon Asano Kii-no-kami." "Futatsu-dō" indicates the result of a test-cut (tameshigiri) through two stacked bodies, but the details of the person who performed the cut are not recorded.
Designation and Present Location
It was designated an Important Cultural Property on June 22, 1955, and is now held by the Tokyo National Museum.
Legends & Stories
The "futatsu-dō" recorded in the gold-inlaid inscription is understood to document a test-cut through two stacked bodies, proof of the blade's ability to cut clean through both — yet who performed the test has gone unrecorded, leaving only the inscription itself as testimony to the blade's formidable edge.