村正
Muramasa
別名: The Cursed Blades of Muramasa
解說
Known as 'yōtō' (cursed blade), 'Muramasa' refers collectively to the swords made by the Sengo Muramasa lineage of Kuwana in Ise Province. The Tokugawa clan feared these blades because both Ieyasu's grandfather Matsudaira Kiyoyasu and father Hirotada were killed by Muramasa blades, and Ieyasu himself was wounded by one in childhood. In truth, their prevalence among Mikawa samurai was simply due to Kuwana's proximity to Mikawa. The craftsmanship is superb: combat-oriented, devastatingly sharp, with a distinctive hamon that mirrors on both sides of the blade. During the Bakumatsu, anti-shōgunate loyalists famously favored Muramasa blades as symbols of resistance.
逸話與傳說
Tokugawa Ieyasu's grandfather Matsudaira Kiyoyasu was assassinated by a retainer wielding a Muramasa blade (the Moriyama Incident), and his father Hirotada was likewise cut down by one. Ieyasu himself was wounded by a Muramasa tantō as a child, and even his eldest son Nobuyasu's ritual suicide was assisted by a Muramasa blade. These tragic coincidences led the Tokugawa household to shun Muramasa as a 'cursed sword that brings ruin upon the Tokugawa.' Under the Edo shōgunate, owning a Muramasa became taboo, and many owners ground off or altered the signature. Yet during the Bakumatsu era, anti-shōgunate loyalists deliberately sought out Muramasa blades as symbols of defiance against Tokugawa rule. The 'cursed blade' legend was a source of dread — and of romantic heroism.
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