Other Famous SwordsTantōNational Treasure

乱藤四郎

Midare Tōshirō

Also known as: Wild Tōshirō

Smith

Awataguchi Yoshimitsu

Era

Mid-Kamakura period (late 13th century)

Type

Tantō

Designation

National Treasure

Location

Kyoto National Museum

Description

Midare Tōshirō is a National Treasure tantō by Awataguchi Yoshimitsu that stands out as one of his most unusual works: while most of his tantō are known for a calm, straight temper line (suguha), this blade carries a wild, undulating midare-hamon (irregular temper pattern) — giving it a turbulent energy entirely unlike its siblings. The combination of Yoshimitsu's characteristic fine itame-hada and this dynamic temper line is unique among his surviving works, demonstrating the full breadth of his technical mastery. The blade passed through the noble Sanjōnishi family of Kyoto before being designated a National Treasure. It is now held at the Kyoto National Museum — not far from where it was first forged in the Awataguchi district of Kyoto, over 700 years ago.

Legends & Stories

The name 'Midare' means 'wild' or 'disordered,' and this tantō's turbulent, wave-like temper line stands in dramatic contrast to the calm straight hamon of Yoshimitsu's other surviving works. This raises a fascinating question: why did the supreme master of the serene straight temper forge one blade with a wild, undulating pattern? Some scholars suggest it was made to special order for a patron who wanted something dramatically different; others see it as evidence that Yoshimitsu's genius was not limited to a single mode of expression. The blade's transmission through the Sanjōnishi family — a great aristocratic house of Kyoto — adds another dimension to its story: this was not a warrior's sword in someone's armory, but a cultured nobleman's art object, treasured for its beauty as much as its deadly purpose. Sanjō Nishisanetaka, the family's most famous member, was one of the greatest classical scholars of the Muromachi era, and the fact that a sword of such wild energy was preserved by a man of letters in a house of poetry suggests that the Japanese appreciation of swords transcended the martial world entirely.