徳川光圀

Tokugawa Mitsukuni, second lord of the Mito domain and known to posterity as 'Mito Kōmon,' was one of the great scholar-daimyō of the Edo period. He initiated the monumental Dai Nihon-shi (Great History of Japan) project, a scholarly enterprise that continued for 250 years after his death. This passion for historical research extended to swords: Mitsukuni systematically collected records of famous blades, their smiths, and their provenance, preserving invaluable documentation for later generations of sword scholars. The Mito Tokugawa family's collection was one of the finest among the Three Subsidiary Houses of the Tokugawa, and Mitsukuni's stewardship greatly enriched it. Most significantly, the famous sword Shokudaikiri Mitsutada — originally the beloved blade of Date Masamune — passed into Mito Tokugawa possession and was carefully researched and documented by Mitsukuni's circle of scholars. This connection between the Sendai legacy of Date Masamune and the Mito heritage of Mitsukuni gives Shokudaikiri Mitsutada a unique place in the history of Japanese swords — a blade linking DATEKATANA's own heritage to one of the great scholar-lords of Japan. Mitsukuni's Confucian learning also shaped his view of the sword: not merely a weapon but a spiritual symbol embodying loyalty, righteousness, and the samurai ideal.