へし切長谷部

Heshikiri Hasebe is a masterwork uchigatana by Hasebe Kunishige, a Nanbokuchō-period smith celebrated for his intense hitatsura (full-blade) temper pattern. Designated a National Treasure and housed in Fukuoka City Museum, it was once owned by Oda Nobunaga and later bestowed upon the brilliant strategist Kuroda Kanbei (Josui). The blade's name — meaning 'the pressing cutter' — derives from a famous episode in which Nobunaga drove the sword through a shelf to kill a tea-servant hiding beneath it, a story that vividly captures Nobunaga's unpredictable ferocity. The hitatsura hamon, in which nie-based tempering spreads across the entire blade surface rather than remaining confined to the edge, creates a wild, almost supernatural beauty. After Nobunaga's death, it passed to the Kuroda clan and has been treasured as their supreme heirloom ever since.