Special Exhibition: Swords of the Warlords — The Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hidenaga Brothers (Nagoya Token Museum, 2026)
特別展「戦国武将ゆかりの刀剣―豊臣秀吉・秀長兄弟―」
A special exhibition held by the Nagoya Token Museum (Nagoya Token World) from 11 July to 27 September 2026, presenting National Treasure, Important Cultural Property and Important Art Object swords connected to the brothers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hidenaga, across two exhibition periods.
Description
Overview
The Nagoya Token Museum (Nagoya Token World) is holding the special exhibition "Swords of the Warlords — The Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hidenaga Brothers" from 11 July to 27 September 2026 in the Special Exhibition Room on the fourth floor of its North Building. The show focuses on Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his half-brother Hidenaga, who supported Hideyoshi's regime, tracing their network of relationships through swords that passed through their circle. The run is split into two periods — the first (11 July–16 August) and the second (18 August–27 September) — with a full changeover of exhibits between them.
First-Period Highlights
The centrepiece of the first period is the Important Cultural Property blade "Osaka Nagayoshi," which passed from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to the Maeda family. Made by Osafune Chogi of the Bizen Osafune school, this tachi combines a large point (o-kissaki) with a straight temper line (suguha), and carries high historical value as a blade that moved between two great houses, the Toyotomi and the Kaga Maeda.
Second-Period Highlights
The second period features the National Treasure "Uraku Rai Kunimitsu," a tanto that Hideyoshi's son Hideyori bestowed on the tea master Oda Urakusai (a younger brother of Oda Nobunaga), counted among Rai Kunimitsu's representative works. Also on display are the Tokubetsu Juyo sword "Yoshioka Ichimonji," said to have been brought as part of a trousseau by Hidenaga's daughter Kikuhime, and the Important Art Object "Kuwayama Taima," owned by Hidenaga's retainer Kuwayama Motoharu — together illustrating the human relationships within the Toyotomi household through the provenance of these blades.
Events and Significance
On 24 July, members of the Nagoya Omotenashi Bushotai cosplay troupe will appear in the roles of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Maeda Toshiie for a related programme of tea ceremony, festival stalls, photo sessions and gallery talks. Beyond the artistic value of the blades themselves, the exhibition concretely illustrates the social functions swords served — as gifts, wedding trousseau items, and tokens of lord-vassal ties — through the real relationships of historical warlords.
Real Swords Featured
Uraku Rai Kunimitsu
A National-Treasure-designated tanto said to have been bestowed by Toyotomi Hideyori on the tea master Oda Urakusai, a younger brother of Oda Nobunaga. One of Rai Kunimitsu's representative works, it is the centrepiece of the exhibition's second period (18 August–27 September) at the Nagoya Token Museum.
Yoshioka Ichimonji
A Tokubetsu-Juyo-designated blade of the Bizen Ichimonji school, said to have been brought as part of her wedding trousseau by Kikuhime, daughter of Toyotomi Hidenaga. On display in this exhibition.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsThis page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.