Other Famous SwordsTantōNational Treasure

地蔵正宗

Jizō Masamune

Also known as: Jizō Masamune; Sōshū Masterpiece of the Maeda Clan

Smith

Sōshū Masamune

Era

Late Kamakura period (early 14th century)

Type

Tantō

Designation

National Treasure

Location

Maeda Ikutokukai, Tokyo

Description

Jizō Masamune is a tantō by Sōshū Masamune — Japan's supreme swordsmith — and stands as one of the finest examples of the Sōshū tradition in the shorter blade form. Its name derives from Jizō Bosatsu (Kṣitigarbha), the beloved bodhisattva who guides beings through the six realms of existence, either because a Jizō image was engraved on the nakago or because the blade was once held by a Jizō-venerating temple. The blade is approximately 29 cm in length and displays Masamune's characteristic wild yet controlled activity: a complex jitetsu with large ji-nie, and a vivid midare-hamon of notare mixed with gunome, punctuated by the swirling nie and rushing kinsuji that define Sōshū workmanship at its peak. The sword was preserved through the Edo period in the collection of the Maeda clan of Kaga and is today a National Treasure held by the Maeda Ikutokukai in Tokyo.

Legends & Stories

The name Jizō — given to this blade because of a bodhisattva engraving or a temple connection — introduces an almost paradoxical quality to one of Masamune's most active, dynamic blades. Jizō Bosatsu is the gentlest of Buddhist figures: guardian of children, guide of the dead, the deity who descends into hell itself out of compassion for those who suffer there. And yet the blade that bears his name is classic Masamune in its most intense register — the hamon writhing with nie-laden activity, the jitetsu alive with movement. In medieval Japan, this was not a contradiction. The sword was a sacred object, and the engraving of a bodhisattva on its tang was a form of consecration — invoking divine protection for the wielder, and perhaps dedicating the violence the blade might do to a higher spiritual purpose. The Maeda clan of Kaga, who preserved this blade through the Edo period and into the modern era, were exemplary patrons of Buddhist culture as well as martial arts. In their hands, a sword named for the guardian of the dead was perhaps perfectly at home.