徳川家康

Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Edo shogunate, possessed a connoisseur's eye for swords honed by decades of battlefield experience. His treasured Sohayanotsurugi, said to have once belonged to Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, was enshrined at Sunpu Castle as a guardian sword of the Tokugawa clan. The blade Nikkō Sukesane, a masterpiece by Sukesane of the Masamune Juttetsu (Ten Great Disciples of Masamune), was dedicated to Nikkō Tōshō-gū after Ieyasu's death. Ieyasu is also famous for his aversion to Muramasa blades — both his grandfather Kiyoyasu and father Hirotada were killed by Muramasa swords, giving rise to the legend that Muramasa blades were cursed against the Tokugawa line. After establishing the shogunate, he appointed Hon'ami Kōtoku as supreme sword appraiser and formalized the grading system for great swords. Ieyasu wielded famous blades as tools of political control over the daimyō, establishing the cultural significance of swords in the era of peace.