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

Although naginata (a pole sword) are believed to have been used since the Heian period, few of them now exist that were created before the Kamakura period when Nagamitsu produced them actively. Nagamitsu was a swordsmith in the Osafune school that prospered through the medieval period in Bizen-no-Kuni and a son of Mitsutada, the founder of the Osafune school. It is said that his forging style shifted from one that followed his father's style, which featured a brilliant chojimidare pattern, to one featuring a serene suguha pattern. This naginata demonstrates Nagamitsu's early characteristics: the fine-grained (itame) ground metal shows midareutsuri (a pattern that looks like a reflection of the blade pattern) clearly with the hamon of gunomechoji.