National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

The sword maker Yoshifusa, who lived in Bizen Province (present-day southeastern Okayama Prefecture), belonged to the Fukuoka Ichimonji School. Along with Sukezane and Norifusa, he was one of the outstanding swordsmiths of Bizen in the middle of the Kamakura period (1185-1333). The overall construction of this tachi is splendid, with a bold curve and a magnificent clove-shaped (J. chôjiba) tempering pattern.

This sword once belonged to the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536?-1598). It was later bestowed on Takekoshi Masanobu, a retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), and was subsequently owned by Takekoshi's descendants.