Other Famous SwordsTantōImportant Cultural Property

籠手切正宗

Kotegiri Masamune

Aussi connu sous le nom de: Kotegiri Masamune; the Gauntlet-Cutter

Forgeron

Sōshū Masamune

Époque

Late Kamakura period (early 14th century)

Type

Tantō

Classement

Important Cultural Property

Lieu de conservation

Osaka Castle Tower Museum, Osaka

Description

Kotegiri Masamune — 'Gauntlet-Cutter Masamune' — is a tantō by Sōshū Masamune that takes its name from a legendary episode in which the blade cut through the iron kote (gauntlet) protecting a warrior's forearm, demonstrating the extraordinary cutting performance that made Masamune's blades legendary. Approximately 26 cm in length, the blade displays the active jitetsu and dynamic gunome-midare hamon characteristic of Sōshū work at its finest. The sword has connections to the Toyotomi clan and the city of Osaka, and is today held at the Osaka Castle Tower Museum — a symbolically resonant location given Toyotomi Hideyoshi's profound association with that castle. It is designated an Important Cultural Property.

Légendes et récits

The name 'Gauntlet-Cutter' carries within it a whole theory of Masamune's blades: that their cutting ability was something beyond the merely excellent — a performance so extraordinary that it passed into legend. To cut through an iron gauntlet with a short blade in combat suggests either a truly extraordinary edge or an extraordinary story. Both are probably true. Sōshū Masamune's blades were tested and retested across the centuries, and the consistent verdict was that no other smith's work matched them for cutting performance. This short blade, held at Osaka Castle — Toyotomi Hideyoshi's great fortress-palace — connects the supreme swordsmith with the supreme ruler of the Sengoku period in the city that was the stage for the final act of the Toyotomi story. When the summer siege of 1615 brought the Tokugawa forces through Osaka and ended the Toyotomi line, some treasures were lost forever. Kotegiri Masamune survived.