Masamune
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Gorō Nyūdō Masamune was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tantō, in the Sōshū school. Howeve
Tantō Masamune, Important Art Object
Honjo Shigenaga
Toyotomi-Hidetsugu
A drawing of the Honjo Masamune drawn by 17 century swordsmith Tsuguhira
Tachi
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A tachi is a type of sabre-like traditionally made Japanese sword worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Tachi and uchigatana generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were wor
Masamune
…c. 1264–1343) was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tantō, in the Sōshū school. However, many of his forged tachi were made into katana by cutting the tang (nakago) in later times ("suriage"). For…
Itomaki-no-tachi style sword mounting with chrysanthemum and paulownia crests on nashiji laquer ground. The blade was made by Masatsune. Blade, 12th century; mounting, 18th century. Tokyo National Museum.
In the noh drama Sanjō Kokaji, the 10th-century blacksmith Munechika, aided by a kitsune (fox spirit), forges the tachi (samurai sword) Ko-Gitsune Maru.
Kenukigata tachi at Ise Grand Shrine, Heian period. Important Cultural Property.
Tachi, Okanehira, by Kanehira. Ko-Bizen (old Bizen) school. 12th century, Heian period, National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum. Okanehira, together with Dojikiri, is considered one of the best Japanese swords in terms of art and is compared to the yokozuna (the highest rank of a sumo wrestler) of Japanese swords.