* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Bishū Osafune Tomomitsu
備州長船倫光
Also known as: Ōdachi signed Bishū Osafune Tomomitsu, dated Jōji 5 (1366); great sword of Futarasan Jinja
Description
A Great Sword of the Bizen Osafune School
Tomomitsu was a Nanbokuchō-period smith said to have studied under Osafune Kanemitsu. This great sword, signed "Bishū Osafune Tomomitsu" and dated the second month of Jōji 5 (1366), was designated a National Treasure (with an attached ōdachi mounting) on 31 March 1953. It is held by Futarasan Jinja, an ancient shrine in the Nikkō precinct of Nikkō, Tochigi.
Style and Scale
The blade is a massive 126 cm in length with a curvature of 5.8 cm, classifying it among the ōdachi (or "field swords") too large to be worn in the ordinary manner. The steel shows itame grain with ji-nie, and the temper is a gunome-mixed pattern. The spine is carved with a kurikara dragon and Sanskrit characters. As a great sword surviving in sound condition, it is counted among the largest known examples, and it is highly valued as a work that conveys the standard form of the ōdachi fashionable from the late Kamakura through the Nanbokuchō period.
Provenance and Mounting
Its early history is not fully documented, but it is thought to have been dedicated by a powerful clan of the Kantō region during the medieval period. The accompanying ōdachi mounting is believed to predate the Muromachi period; its scabbard was originally finished in black lacquer, later altered to vermilion.
Significance
During the Nanbokuchō period, oversized swords known as ōdachi or nodachi were widely carried by warriors, yet few survive in a form close to their original condition. This blade is valuable both as a dated work by Tomomitsu and as a benchmark example of the Nanbokuchō-period ōdachi.