燭台切光忠

Shokudaikiri Mitsutada is a tachi forged by Mitsutada, the founder of the Osafune school of Bizen Province — one of the most celebrated swordsmiths in Japanese history. Associated with Date Masamune, lord of the Sendai domain, the sword earned its name 'Candlestick Cutter' from an episode in which Masamune is said to have struck down a retainer and cut clean through a nearby bronze candlestick in the same stroke. The blade's hamon features the lavishly undulating choji-midare tempering for which Mitsutada and the Osafune school are famous, and its refined kitae (forged texture) is considered among the finest of the Kamakura period. The sword passed from the Date clan to the Mito Tokugawa family, where it was damaged in the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake. After years of neglect, it underwent restoration in recent years, and the results confirmed the extraordinary quality of Mitsutada's craft. Now designated an Important Cultural Property and housed in the Tokugawa Museum in Mito, it remains one of the most beloved swords associated with Date Masamune and the city of Sendai.