Other Famous SwordsUchigatanaImportant Cultural Property

山姥切国広

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro

Also known as: Mountain Hag Cutter

Smith

Horikawa Kunihiro

Era

Azuchi-Momoyama period (Tenshō 18, 1590)

Type

Uchigatana

Designation

Important Cultural Property

Location

Ashikaga City Museum of Art, Ashikaga, Tochigi

Description

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro is widely regarded as the masterpiece of Horikawa Kunihiro, the founder of the Horikawa school of swordsmiths in Kyoto. Forged in 1590 at the renowned Ashikaga Gakko (Japan's oldest school) in Ashikaga, Tochigi, it was commissioned by the lord of Ashikaga Castle, Nagao Akitomo, as a deliberate copy of an older blade associated with the legend of slaying a 'yamamba' (mountain hag). The blade's hada (surface texture) features distinctive file-mark-like striations on the mune (spine), replicating a characteristic of the original sword. The nakago (tang) bears an inscription recording the extraordinary circumstances of its forging: 'Forged in Ashikaga-no-sho in the eighteenth year of Tenshō, by Kunihiro.' Designated an Important Cultural Property and now housed in the Ashikaga City Museum of Art, it has become one of the most celebrated swords in Japan, drawing visitors from across the country following its popularization through Touken Ranbu.

Legends & Stories

A yamamba (mountain hag) is a fearsome supernatural being from Japanese folklore — a wild-haired old woman who lurks in mountain forests and devours travelers. The 'original sword' (honka) that Yamanbagiri Kunihiro copies was believed to have slain such a creature, and was considered to carry powerful protective properties as a result. Lord Nagao Akitomo, wishing to transfer this supernatural power into a new blade, commissioned the greatest smith of the age — Horikawa Kunihiro — to forge an exact copy. Kunihiro created his masterpiece at the Ashikaga Gakko, Japan's oldest school, forging the blade in a place already imbued with centuries of scholarly and spiritual significance. The result was a sword that combined the legendary power of the original, the technical brilliance of Kunihiro, and the spiritual authority of Ashikaga Gakko into a single extraordinary object. The distinctive file-mark striations on the blade's spine are a deliberate replication of the original sword's character — a sign of Kunihiro's respectful homage rather than mere imitation.