A Masamitsu Katana (藝州住出雲大掾正光)

Izumo Daijô Masamitsu (出雲大掾正光) was born in the second year of Kyôwa era (1802) in Takano village, Aki province. Though his three elder brothers are also said to have been swordsmiths, few of their works survive, and it was Masamitsu who proved by far the most accomplished. He studied under Aoki Motonaga, a disciple of the Owari smith Nobutaka, and received the honorary title Izumo Daijô in the twelfth year of Bunsei era (1829). His reputation soon reached the Asano daimyô of Hiroshima, who granted him the privilege of wearing hakama and carrying a sword. In the fifth year of Ansei era (1858) he became an official smith retained by the Asano family of Aki. His last confirmed dated work is from the eighth year of Meiji era (1875), and he died in the twelfth year of Meiji era (1879) at the age of 78.

Signed “Geishû-jû Izumo Daijô Masamitsu” and dated August 1865, when Masamitsu was 64, this blade was forged at the height of bakumatsu turmoil, when the Asano domain was quietly strengthening its military readiness. A retained domain swordsmith in that climate did not forge swords for ceremony, and this blade bears that out. At over 900 grams, it is genuinely battle-ready, and exceptionally sharp. The jigane is a finely forged ko-itame with chikei, and the hamon a chû-suguha with hints of ko-midare. There is a mistiness to the hamon, like morning mist over still water. This is not a showy blade, this sword stands confidently, fully prepared.

The shirasaya bears a 1985 sayagaki by Hon’ami Nisshû, former Living National Treasure sword polisher, who almost certainly polished the sword back then, recording the blade’s passage within the Asano family of Geishû. This is such a marvellous accompaniment to the katana, there is a palpable sense of history locked in this blade. The sword is also certified NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon.

The koshirae is certified from the late Edo period, so the saya (scabbard) is surely original to the sword itself. It is finished in a beautiful mother-of-pearl aogai-mijin-nuri that has aged exquisitely. Its fuchi-kashira, koiguchi and kojiri form a matching soroi-kanagu long-life karakusa patterned set, while the tsuka highlights the tsuba’s matsu (pine tree) theme with two glorious pine-needle menuki that are certified to Ôtsuki Hidekuni. This is a sword for someone who feels the weight of history and wants to hold a piece of it. Forged in the final years of samurai Japan, by the retained smith of a domain that chose the winning side, it is as close as you will get to that world. Some swords are for display. This one was made to be carried.