Description
Toshitsune (active c. 1210) is representative of sword makers from Bizen. The temper line at the tip of this blade suggests that he followed the style of the mid-Heian period (794-1185) sword maker Masatsune. The form of this long sword (J., <i>tachi</i>) blade, increasing in width and deeply curved by the waist and bearing a small point, clearly reflects the characteristics of the period. The surface of the metal itself bears a dense wood-grain texture combined with a burl grain, and the temper line consists of small bumps crossed by legs (J., <i>ashi</i>) and dots (J., <i>yô</i>).
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