They both worked tirelessly, and when both swords were finished, they decided to test the results. Legends of Masamune and Muramasa Ī legend tells of a test where Muramasa challenged his master, Masamune, to see who could make a finer sword.
A third of all swords listed are Soshu blades by many of the greatest Soshu masters including Masamune's students. It is known that Hideyoshi had a passion for Soshu swordsmiths which may explain this. There are far more blades listed for Masamune than the next two swordsmiths combined. The three books together list sixty-one blades by Masamune. The first book, known as the Nihon Sansaku, is a list of the three greatest swordsmiths in the eyes of Toyotomi Hideyoshi including Etchu Matsukura Go Umanosuke Yoshihiro, Awataguchi Toshiro Yoshimitsu, and lists forty-one blades by Masamune. The catalogue was created on the orders of the Tokugawa Yoshimune of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1714 and consists of three books. His swords are the most frequently cited among those listed in the Kyōho Meibutsu Cho, a catalogue of excellent swords in the collections of daimyō edited during the Kyōhō era by the Hon'ami family of sword appraisers and polishers. Judging from his style, he was active from the late Kamakura period to the Nanboku-chō period. The examples "Fudo Masamune", "Kyōgoku Masamune", and "Daikoku Masamune" are accepted as his genuine works. The "Honjo Masamune", a symbol of the Tokugawa shogunate and passed down from shōgun to shōgun, is perhaps the best known Masamune sword. Swords created by Masamune often are referred to with the smith's name (as with other pieces of artwork) and often with a name for the individual sword as well. His works are well-characterized by striking chikei (dark lines following the grain pattern in the steel above the hamon), kinsuji (lightning shaped lines of nie) and nie (crystals of martensite embedded in a pearlite matrix). There are also some blades with ko-midare (small irregularities), a style which appears to have been copied from the Old Bizen and Hōki Province styles. Masamune studied under Shintōgo Kunimitsu and made blades in suguha (straight temper line), but he made notare hamon, where the finish on the leading edge of blade slowly undulates where it was quenched. He is considered to have brought to perfection the art of " nie" ( 錵, martensitic crystals embedded in pearlite matrix, thought to resemble stars in the night sky). The swords of Masamune possess a reputation for superior beauty and quality, remarkable in a period where the steel necessary for swords was often impure. Go Yoshihiro (top) Masamune (centre) Awataguchi Yoshimitsu (bottom) Although not awarded every year, it is presented to a swordsmith who has created an exceptional work. He was the father of Hikoshiro Sadamune, also a famous Sōshū master.Īn award for swordsmiths called the Masamune Prize is awarded at the Japanese Sword Making Competition. Masamune is believed to have worked in Sagami Province during the last part of the Kamakura period (1288–1328), and it is thought that he was trained by swordsmiths from Bizen and Yamashiro provinces, such as Saburo Kunimune, Awataguchi Kunitsuna and Shintōgo Kunimitsu. Some stories list his family name as Okazaki, but some experts believe this is a fabrication to enhance the standing of the Tokugawa family. It is generally agreed that he made most of his swords between 12. No exact dates are known for Masamune's life. For this reason, his only existing works are katana and tantō. However, many of his forged tachi were made into katana by cutting the tang ( nakago) in later times. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tantō, in the Sōshū school. Gorō Nyūdō Masamune ( 五郎入道正宗, Priest Gorō Masamune, c.1264–1343), was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith.
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