Blade for a Dagger (Tantō), Named Meibutsu Atsushi Tōshirō” 短刀（名物 厚藤四郎）たんとう （めいぶつ あつしとうしろう）
Description
The early samurai often wore daggers as backup weapons. This example is engraved with the signature of Yoshimitsu, a Kyoto swordsmith renowned for the quality of his dagger blades. Long considered a masterpiece, it was passed down for hundreds of years by the Ashikaga and Tokugawa shoguns, the military rulers of Japan.
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
June 8, 2026