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

The sashiomote (the outside of the sword when worn on the waist) is in the shinogizukuri (a sword with the ridgeline close to the back of the blade) style while the sashiura (the inner side when worn on the waist) is in the kirihazukuri (a sword with the ridgeline close to the cutting edge) style. This is why the sword was named "Kiriha Sadamune." The hamon (blade pattern) is in the midareba (irregular) style with a combination of chojiba (a clove pattern) and togariba (a pointed pattern that protrudes from the hamon). Sadamune in Sagami no Kuni was a swordsmith in the late Kamakura period to the early Northern and Southern Courts period who is said to be the son or adopted son of Masamune. The sword was owned by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, then by Maeda Toshiie, and finally by the Tokugawa family in Kishu, who presented it to the Tokugawa family of the shogunate in 1697.