Blade for a Long Sword ("Tachi"), Named “Crescent-Moon Munechika” 太刀（名物 三日月宗近）たち（めいぶつ みかづきむねちか）
Description
This tachi long sword has a strong curvature and slim shape. Another striking feature is the intricate complexity of the tempering pattern that sits gleaming between the black ground metal and the white blade edge. A glance above the temper pattern reveals a shiny crescent-moon-shaped pattern. The Japanese word for crescent moon is “mikazuki,” which explains why the sword is named “Mikazuki Munechika.”
Munechika was a swordsmith said to have lived in Kyoto's Sanjo district during the late Heian period. Hardly any of his swords are still with us today. This sword was once owned by the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a 16th century warlord who unified Japan. It was later bequeathed to the second Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, and it was subsequently passed down through the Tokugawa family.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
July 20, 2026