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

This sword looks like a short sword in the hirazukuri (a flat sword without a ridgeline) style that had been made longer and to which a curve had been added. Although it seems to be one of the swords called uchigatana during the Kamakura period, this is a very rare type. It is said that Kuniyoshi in the Awataguchi school in Yamashiro no Kuni was the son of Norikuni and the inscription shows that he used to call himself Fujiwara Sahyoenojo. His style features a close and clear jigane (ground metal) and the hamon (blade pattern) in the suguha (straight) style with konie (small martensite crystals). The origin of the pseudonym "Narigitsune" is unknown. It had been handed down to the Akimoto family in the Yamagata domain, Dewa no Kuni.