Masamune — Famous Tachi Swordsmith
[Tachi = ancient sword with deeper curvature before the Nambokucho Era (1334–1389)]
Goro-Masmune Okazaki was born in 1263 as a son of Kudo Saburo Yukimitsu. Masamune became a disciple of ShindoGo Kunimitsu when he became an adult. He has produced only Tachi and Tanto. All of his Tachi were shortened and became the Katana during Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo Era. Masamune died at the age of 81 in 1343.
His characteristic workmanship is the following:
1. His production was limited to the Tachi & Tanto.
The Tachi was the typical style of late Kamakura Era, having an usual Sori ( Curvature ) and Kiri-saki ( Cutting tip ) shape.Other style was the typical Nanbokucho Era style, having alarge Kiri-saki extended and the Kasane ( Thickness ) was thin.
The usual Tanto length was anywhere from 8 & 1/2 to 11 &1/2 inches. There are only 3 Tanto with his true signature in existence.
All the Katana in existence nowadays were shortened at the tang and therefore lost his signature due to the Suri-age ( Shortening ) process.
2. The shape of Mine ( Non blade side ) was Mitsu-mune
( Having 3 corners ), which was also known as the Shin no Mine ( True Mine shape ).
3. Hataraki ( Special effects ):
Chikei ( Moon shape effect ) with Ji-Nie, Kinsuji ( Gold streaks ), and Inazuma ( Thunderbolt ) were found in the Hamon area of his swords and daggers.
4. Hamon ( Tempering line ):
Notare ( Wavy ) or Gunome ( Zig zag shape ) with earlobe shape. In the early days of his production, the Hamon resembled his father’s (Yukimitsu ) production as Hoso-Suguha ( Narrow straight Hamon ), with Ko-maru Boushi ( Small turn back ) in the Kiri-saki area.
5. Yasuri-me ( File marks ):
Katte-sagari ( Right hand side slightly downward )
6. Nakago-jiri shape:
Kengyou ( Sword shape ) or Iri-yama gata ( One side mountain high shape )
7. Masamune studied and copied the Bizen-den & Yamashiro-den styles of swordsmithing schools.
Masamune became very famous during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo Eras. The 3 important Sengoku-Daimyo ( Lord Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi & Ieyasu Tokugawa ) highly publicized Masamune’s workmanship.
All the Daimyo-Ke ( Feudal Lord’s families ) had one or two Masamune swords or daggers in their collections. The Honami, the official polisher for the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Clans, appraised & certified many Masamune swords. Masamune’s swords were used as gifts from Daimyo-Ke during their promotions, weddings & ceremonial purposes.
In other words, historically, the Masamune swords & daggers were used for the propaganda purposes.
