Other Famous SwordsTantōImportant Cultural Property

亀割

Kamewari

Aussi connu sous le nom de: Kamewari; the Tantō of Hōjō Masako

Forgeron

Unknown (master smith of the early Kamakura period)

Époque

Early Kamakura period (late 12th – early 13th century)

Type

Tantō

Classement

Important Cultural Property

Lieu de conservation

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture

Description

Kamewari — 'Turtle-Splitter' — is a tantō associated with Hōjō Masako (1157–1225), wife of Minamoto no Yoritomo and one of the most powerful women in Japanese history, who effectively governed the Kamakura shogunate as the 'Nun Shōgun' after her husband's death. The blade's name is traditionally explained either as a reference to its extraordinary cutting power (capable of splitting even a turtle's shell) or as reflecting its role as a ubugatana — a birth-sword placed beside a woman during childbirth as a spiritual protector. The sword is preserved at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū Shrine in Kamakura and is designated an Important Cultural Property. Its association with Masako, whose famous speech rallying the Kamakura warriors against the imperial forces at the Jōkyū War (1221) is among the most celebrated in Japanese history, gives this blade a unique place in the story of women and power in medieval Japan.

Légendes et récits

Hōjō Masako occupies a singular position in Japanese history: a woman who, though technically a nun after her husband's death, wielded more real political power than any shōgun of her era. Her speech to the assembled Kamakura vassals in 1221 — invoking Yoritomo's patronage and calling on warriors to honor that debt by defending the shogunate — was one of the decisive political acts of medieval Japan. A birth-sword associated with this woman connects the most intimate physical vulnerability — childbirth — to one of the most formidable political intellects of the age. Kamewari, preserved at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū — the shrine that Yoritomo built as the spiritual heart of his warrior capital — holds within its small, sharp form the compressed history of a government, a marriage, a birth, and a dynasty.