Other Famous SwordsTachiImportant Cultural Property

姫鶴一文字

Himeturu Ichimonji

Aussi connu sous le nom de: Princess Crane

Forgeron

Ichimonji School (Bizen Province)

Époque

Kamakura period (13th century)

Type

Tachi

Classement

Important Cultural Property

Lieu de conservation

Maeda Ikutokukai (or Uesugi Museum, Yonezawa City)

Description

Himeturu Ichimonji is a tachi of the Bizen Ichimonji school, celebrated as one of the treasured blades of Uesugi Kenshin (1530–1578), the legendary 'Dragon of Echigo' who clashed with Takeda Shingen five times at Kawanakajima. The name 'Princess Crane' is said to derive either from the blade's elegant and powerful hamon — its temper line evoking the dance of a crane — or from a legend that Kenshin received the sword in a dream from a heavenly princess in the form of a crane. The blade exemplifies the finest Ichimonji school aesthetics: a magnificent chōji-midare (clove-flower pattern) hamon, a brilliant polished jigane, and the commanding tachi form of the Kamakura period. It is designated as an Important Cultural Property and is one of the crown jewels of Uesugi family heritage.

Légendes et récits

Uesugi Kenshin was one of the most remarkable figures of the Sengoku period: a general of genius who never lost a battle, a devoted Buddhist who believed himself to be the incarnation of Bishamonten (the guardian deity of warriors), and a man who never married, dedicating his life to warfare and faith. The legend of Himeturu Ichimonji holds that Kenshin received the sword in a dream: a crane in the form of a beautiful princess descended and presented him with the blade. He woke, searched until he found a sword matching the one in his dream, and named it 'Princess Crane.' Whether dream or invention, the story captures something true about Kenshin — a man for whom faith, beauty, and violence were indivisible. The sword he loved survived the chaos of the Uesugi succession crisis after his death, survived the reduction of the domain after Sekigahara, and survived the centuries to reach the present day. Kenshin is gone, but his crane-blade remains.