The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
Swordsmith Yakuwa Yasutake was born on December 7, Meiji 42, in Ayukawa Village, Mogami District, Yamagata Prefecture. Aspiring to become a swordsmith, he entered the Nihonto Tanrenjo within Tokyo Yasukuni Jinja in Showa 10 and studied sword-making techniques under swordsmith Ikeda Yasumitsu. After the war, he continued making swords under Master Tsukamoto Okimasa, who had been appointed to forge the tachi for the Ise Jingu Sengu, and deepened his research with a longing for celebrated koto in his heart. In Showa 56, using the Bizen Osafune Tomomitsu of Nikko Futarasan Jinja as a model, he unveiled an odachi of over four shaku with the mei "Ichigo Hitofuri Nari" on the nakago, and was honored with the "Masamune Sho," the highest award of the Gendaito Ten.
Offered by Choshuya
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As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Tokyo · around 1926-1989
1 piece on the market now
Shōwa to the present: destruction and revival
The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
If, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.