義元左文字

On May 19, 1560, the warlord Imagawa Yoshimoto led an army of 25,000 soldiers through Owari Province toward Kyoto. Then Oda Nobunaga, with roughly 2,000 men, launched a desperate charge into the enemy headquarters during a blinding rainstorm. In the chaos, Yoshimoto was cut down — and his prized Samonji sword fell into Nobunaga's hands. Rather than melting it down or selling it, Nobunaga had a gold-inlaid inscription engraved directly on the blade: 'On the 19th day of the 5th month of Eiroku 3, Yoshimoto was struck down; I have engraved this on his sword — Oda Owari no Kami Nobunaga.' It was an act of breathtaking arrogance and historical self-consciousness: the victor inscribing his victory onto the vanquished warlord's most treasured possession. The sword then passed through Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu — the blade becoming a kind of relay baton of supreme power in the Sengoku era. Its gold-inlaid inscription remains visible today, making it one of the most historically resonant swords in Japan.