28 Facts About Masamune

Masamune created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tanto, in the Soshu school.

Masamune is believed to have worked in Sagami Province during the last part of the Kamakura period, and it is thought that he was trained by swordsmiths from Bizen and Yamashiro provinces, such as Saburo Kunimune, Awataguchi Kunitsuna and Shintogo Kunimitsu.

Masamune was the father of Hikoshiro Sadamune, a famous Soshu master.

An award for swordsmiths called the Masamune Prize is awarded at the Japanese Sword Making Competition.

The swords of Masamune possess a reputation for superior beauty and quality, remarkable in a period where the steel necessary for swords was often impure.

Masamune is considered to have brought to perfection the art of "nie".

Masamune studied under Shintogo Kunimitsu and made blades in suguha, but he made notare hamon, where the finish on the leading edge of blade slowly undulates where it was quenched.

Masamune's works are well-characterized by striking chikei, kinsuji, and nie.

Swords created by Masamune often are referred to with the smith's name and often with a name for the individual sword as well.

Masamune's swords are the most frequently cited among those listed in the Kyoho Meibutsu Cho, a catalogue of excellent swords in the collections of daimyo edited during the Kyoho era by the Hon'ami family of sword appraisers and polishers.

Highly impressed with his pupil's work, Masamune lowered his sword into the current and waited patiently.

In yet another story Muramasa and Masamune were summoned to make swords for the shogun or emperor, and the finished swords were held in a waterfall.

The result is the same as the other stories, and Masamune's swords are deemed holy swords.

Masamune is believed to have trained a great number of sword smiths; 15 are known, 10 of whom are considered to be the Juttetsu or "Ten Famous Students" or "10 Great Disciples of Masamune".

Masamune likely was not taught directly by Masamune but was influenced by the Soshu, crafting swords in addition to serving himself as a leader in the Soden Bizen revolution.

Masamune's swords are most like those of Masamune and quite often confused with his.

Masamune is known as Kaneshige using the Japanese pronunciation of his name.

Masamune was a monk at the Seisen-ji in Tsuruga and led to the creation of Echizen swordmaking like Kuniyuki, moving to Mino around the time of Ryakuo creating the Seki tradition.

Masamune's swords are considered by some to be equal to Akihiro and Hiromitsu.

Masamune created the Heshikiri Hasebe listed in the Kyoho Meibutsu Cho, owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and then by Oda Nobunaga.

Masamune is believed to have gone by the name of Go Yoshihiro or simply Go, the name of the town from which he came.

Masamune is considered to have the highest skill in forging swords among the Masamune Juttetsu [1].

Masamune's work is considered by many to have been influenced by Soshu even if not taught by Masamune directly, he is influenced by the Soden Bizen and Iwami province style.

Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, the basis for the current designation of cultural properties as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, was enacted in 1950, so the Honjo Masamune, which was a National Treasure under the old system and whose whereabouts were unknown before that time, is not included in the number of National Treasures.

The Honjo Masamune represented the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period and was passed down from one shogun to another.

Moore died in Georgia in 1979The Honjo Masamune is the most important of the missing Japanese swords; although the NCO to whom it was delievered is identified, ironically to date its fate and current location still remains unknown.

The Fudo Masamune is one of the few surviving blades that is known for sure to have been made and signed by the swordsmith and from the early 1600s, it was in the possession of the Owari branch of the Tokugawa clan.

The "Hocho" Masamune refers to any one of three particular and unusual tanto attributed to Masamune.