Muramasa
Muramasa (
In spite of their original reputation as fine blades favored by the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu and his vassals, the katana swords made by Muramasa gradually became a symbol of the anti-Tokugawa movement. Furthermore, in lore and popular culture from the 18th century, the swords have been regarded as yōtō (
Work
[edit]Style
[edit]Much like his unique reputation, Muramasa is known for some fairly unusual features in his work. These attributes are often called by terms prefixed with "Muramasa".
- Muramasa-ba (
村 正 刃 , "Muramasa-like edge")—The first particular characteristic of his is the frequent use of a wave-shaped hamon. The hamon of Muramasa is categorized as gunome-midare, that is, it forms randomized wave-like shapes. In particular, Muramasa's gunome-midare has very long, shallow valleys between a cluster of gunome shapes.[2] Furthermore, the front pattern and the back one often coincide well.[2] In regards to hataraki, or metallurgical patterns created through the differential heating and quenching process, his hamon are extremely clear cut with defined nioi. Muramasa's hamon are also known to be near exact symmetrical duplicates of one another, said to be extremely intricate and difficult in the process of the hamon creation process. - Muramasa-nakago (
村 正 中心 , "Muramasa-like tang")—The other easily identifiable feature one will see on Muramasa blades is the fish-belly (tanagobara) shape of the nakago.[3][2] Hayashi Shigehide (林 重秀 ) in the 19th century often simulated this style.[2]
Notable works
[edit]Although the school of Muramasa is extremely famous in popular culture, none of their swords are designated as a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property.
Myōhō Muramasa (
Muramasa's students made excellent weapons too. Fujiwara Masazane, a disciple of Muramasa, forged Tonbokiri,[5] one of the Three Great Spears of Japan.
Masazane also forged a sword called Inoshishi-giri (
In history
[edit]Origin
[edit]The exact origin of the Muramasa school is unknown. The oldest extant sword equipped with both a name sign Muramasa and a date sign shows the year Bunki 1 (1501).[4][7][8] Scholars, however, assert several swords signed with Muramasa (but without year signs) are slightly older than 1501 in light of their styles.[4][7] It is generally thought that the school of Muramasa spanned at least three generations.[4] It is hardly clear when the school disappeared, but some Muramasa swords contain the year sign Kanbun (1661–1673).[7]
Lores in the late Muromachi period (early 16th century–1573) stated that Muramasa I was a student of Masamune (c. 1300), the greatest swordsmith in Japan's history, and the Hon'ami family (family dynasty of swordpolishers and sword connoisseurs) commented that his floruit was the Jōji era (1362–1368).[9]
Scholars from the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1600) to modern days, however, have dismissed the relationship of Masamune and Muramasa as fantasy because all of extant Muramasa swords are too new to support this theory.[9]
Another theory states that Muramasa I was a student of Heianjō Nagayoshi, a prominent Kyoto swordsmith known for spears and engravings.[4][10]
The school of Masashige (
Sengo (
Kanzan Sato claims that the starting year of Muramasa I was Entoku and Meiō (1489–1501), that of Muramasa II was Tenbun (1532–1539), and that of Muramasa III was Tenshō (1573–1591).[4] On the other hand, Suiken Fukunaga considers the floruit of Muramasa I was around Shōchō (1428–1429) and the 1501 sword was forged by Muramasa III.[7]
Relationship to the Tokugawa dynasty
[edit]Because of their exquisite sharpness, Muramasa swords were favored especially by the samurai of Mikawa (led by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, and his ancestors).[11][5] Naturally, when a misfortune happens in the Tokugawa clan, it is often related to Muramasa, definitely not because they are "cursed," but simply because most Mikawa samurai used these swords.[5] Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, a grandfather of Ieyasu, was mistakenly killed by his own vassal Abe Masatoyo with a Muramasa.[11] Ieyasu's father Matsudaira Hirotada was also stabbed with a Muramasa by Iwamatsu Hachiya, who lost his mind by excessive drinking.[11] When Ieyasu's first son Matsudaira Nobuyasu was forced to commit suicide (seppuku), his beheader (kaishakunin) Amagata Michitsuna used a Muramasa.[11]
In spite of these unfortunate incidents, Tokugawa Ieyasu and his generation seemed to greatly appreciate Muramasa weapons.[5] Ieyasu himself owned two swords forged by Muramasa and left them to his family; as of 2013, the Owari-Tokugawa family still holds one of the two as an heirloom.[5] Honda Tadakatsu, one of the Four Greatest Generals under Ieyasu, wielded Tonbogiri, a legendary spear forged by Fujiwara Masazane, who studied under the Muramasa school.[5] Sakai Tadatsugu, another of the Four, wielded Inoshishi-giri, a sword forged by Masazane.[6]
Later generations in the shogunate, however, gradually came to think of Muramasa as sinister items.
Arai Hakuseki, the official scholar-bureaucrat of the shogunate, commented "Muramasa is associated with not a few sinister events."[5]
Even Tokugawa Jikki (1849), the official history book published from the shogunate, cites Kashiwazaki Monogatari (
In the Bakumatsu period (1853–1868), Muramasa was somehow considered to be a curse bringer against the shogunate, and thus shishi (anti-Tokugawa activists) wished to acquire Muramasa blades.[4] Even though the school of Muramasa does not have an exalted or prestigious status to be used by the imperial family in ordinary times, a Muramasa was wielded by Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army against the Tokugawa shogunate during the Boshin War (1868–1869).[5] To satisfy growing demand, forgeries of Muramasa blades were also often made in this period.[4]
Cultural significance
[edit]In popular culture, Muramasa swords have been often depicted as cursed swords with demonic powers. Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook said that Muramasa "was a most skillful smith but a violent and ill-balanced mind verging on madness, that was supposed to have passed into his blades. They were popularly believed to hunger for blood and to impel their warrior to commit murder or suicide."[13] It has also been told that once drawn, a Muramasa blade has to draw blood before it can be returned to its scabbard, even to the point of forcing its wielder to wound himself or commit suicide.[14] Thus, it is thought of as a demonic cursed blade that creates bloodlust in those who wield it.
These images date back to
kabuki dramas in the 18–19th century such as
Katakiuchi Tenga Jaya Mura (
When Matsudaira Geki was driven mad because of power harassment from his superiors and killed them in Edo Castle in the 6th year of Bunsei (1823), townspeople rumored that Geki used a Muramasa, although actually the sword had no sign and there was no evidence to support the rumor.[2] This incident shows how great the influence of kabuki dramas upon common people was.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, pp. 166–167.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 169.
- ^ [1] www.Muramasa.us/features
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Sato, 1990. pp. 209-212.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "「
尾張 徳川 家 の至宝 」展 妖刀 伝説 から史実 へ" [An Exhibition of the Great Treasures of the Owari-Tokugawa Family: Cursed Sword—From Legend to History]. Nishinippon Shimbun (in Japanese). 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2018-08-22. - ^ a b Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 1, pp. 107–108.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 167.
- ^ "ISE - SENGO MURAMASA School". www.sho-shin.com.
- ^ a b Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 166.
- ^ "Muramasa". www.shibuiswords.com. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
- ^ a b c d Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 168.
- ^ 『
徳川 実紀 』東照宮 御 実紀 附録 巻 三 ([2], p. 162) - ^ Ratti, Oscar and Adele Westbrook (1991). Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan. Tuttle Publishing. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-8048-1684-7.
- ^ Stone, George Cameron (1999). A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications, Inc. p. 460. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5.
Bibliography
[edit]- Sato, Kanzan (1990) (in Japanese) New Selection of 100 Noteworthy Japanese Swords (
新 ・日本 名刀 100選 , Shin Nihon Meitō Hyakusen). Akita Shoten. ISBN 4-253-90009-7. - Fukunaga, Suiken (1993) (in Japanese) Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords (
日本 刀 大 百科 事典 , Nihontō Daihyakka Jiten). Yūzankaku. ISBN 4-639-01202-0.