{
"register": "Meihin Museum Provenance Register",
"number": 2,
"version": 1,
"state": "draft",
"prepared": "2026-10-15",
"issued": null,
"previous": null,
"source_ledger": "tokuju_6_18/claims.json (updated 2026-10-15)",
"object": {
"type": [
"Tachi",
"太刀"
],
"inscription": [
"備 and the top of 前 at the end of the tang, the rest of a long signature cut away in shortening",
"茎尻に「備」の一字および「前」の上部（以下切）"
],
"attribution": [
"Osafune Mitsutada 長船光忠",
"備前国長船光忠"
],
"period": [
"Mid-Kamakura period",
"鎌倉時代中期"
],
"measurements": [
"Nagasa 66.9 cm; sori 2.2 cm",
"長さ66.9cm、反り2.2cm"
],
"papers": [
"Tokubetsu Jūyō Tōken, NBTHK 6th shinsa, designated 9 March 1978; earlier Jūyō Tōken (1971) and Tokubetsu Kichō Tōken (1954)",
"特別重要刀剣（日本美術刀剣保存協会 第六回、昭和五十三年三月九日指定）。先に重要刀剣（昭和四十六年）、特別貴重刀剣（昭和二十九年）"
]
},
"title": {
"object": [
"Tachi, signed 備 (the rest cut away), Osafune Mitsutada",
"太刀 銘 備（以下切） 光忠"
],
"line": [
"Mid-Kamakura period · Nagasa 66.9 cm",
"備前国長船光忠 鎌倉時代中期 長さ六六・九糎"
],
"distinction_ja": "長船派の祖・光忠の太刀。閑院宮家の旧蔵で、昭和二十一年、閑院宮春仁王の名の下に登録された。"
},
"distinction": [
"A tachi by Mitsutada, founder of the Osafune school, keeping the first character of a long signature; in the collection of the Kan’in-no-miya, and registered under Prince Kan’in Haruhito in 1946.",
"長船派の祖・光忠の太刀。長銘の書き出しを残す。閑院宮家の旧蔵で、昭和二十一年（1946年）、閑院宮春仁王の名の下に登録された。"
],
"claims": [
{
"part": "I",
"src": "C02",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1946",
"昭和二十一年"
],
"en": "The work is the tachi of License for Possession of Sword No. 16585, issued in October 1946: a tachi of 2.20 shaku, ‘said to be Mitsutada’, in mounts ‘of sabre style’. The licence’s length agrees with the work’s 66.9 cm within the licence’s rounding, and the work keeps the first character, 備, of a long signature, which separates it from the other Mitsutada tachi recorded in the period.",
"ja": "本刀は、昭和二十一年（1946年）十月発行の刀剣類所持許可証第一六五八五号に記される太刀である。同証は、長さ二・二〇尺、「光忠と伝う」、拵は「サーベル式」と記す。長さは本刀の六六・九糎と同証の丸めの範囲で合致し、本刀は長銘の書き出し「備」を残す点で、同時期に記録される他の光忠の太刀と区別される。",
"notes": [
1,
2
],
"excl_en": "Distinguished from: the Toda tachi certified Jūyō Bijutsuhin, whose signature keeps four characters, 備前國長;3 a tachi attributed to Mitsutada, Jūyō Bunkazai, of 82.4 cm;4 the Sagara tachi certified Jūyō Bijutsuhin, of the same length (2 shaku 2 sun 1 bu), signed 光忠 in two characters, distinct from this work’s long signature.5",
"excl_ja": "区別される刀：重要美術品の戸田家の太刀（銘は「備前國長」の四字を残す）。3重要文化財の伝光忠の太刀（八二・四糎）。4重要美術品の相良家の太刀（同寸の二尺二寸一分。銘は「光忠」の二字で、本刀の長銘とは別である）。5"
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C15",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1935–1946",
"昭和十年〜二十一年"
],
"en": "The blade’s original mounts survive, now apart from it: Type 94 army mounts with the silver crest of the Kan’in-no-miya, a tsuba stamped Shōwa 10 (1935), and an occupation tag reading ‘LT GEN HARU KANIN 15-217’. Their length, curvature and peg-hole agree with the blade, and the licence of 1946 records the blade in mounts ‘of sabre style’.",
"ja": "本刀の元の拵は、刀身と別れて現存する。九四式軍刀拵で、銀の閑院宮家紋、昭和十年（1935年）打ちの鐔、占領期の札「LT GEN HARU KANIN 15-217」を備える。鞘の長さ、反り、目釘孔の位置は刀身に合致し、昭和二十一年の許可証も「サーベル式」の拵を記す。",
"notes": [
6,
1
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C09",
"status": "probable",
"period": [
"1935–1945",
"昭和十年〜二十年"
],
"en": "The mounts appear to have been made for, or by order of, Prince Kan’in Kotohito, and to have passed to his son Haruhito on Kotohito’s death in May 1945. This places the sword in the collection of the Kan’in-no-miya from about 1935.",
"ja": "この拵は、閑院宮載仁親王のため（あるいは親王の命により）誂えられ、昭和二十年（1945年）五月の親王薨去により春仁王に伝わったと考えられる。これにより、本刀は昭和十年頃から閑院宮家にあったと考えられる。",
"notes": [
7
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C01, C03",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1946",
"昭和二十一年"
],
"en": "On 14 October 1946 License for Possession of Sword No. 16585 was issued to ‘Haruhito O’, that is Prince Kan’in Haruhito, for a tachi of 2.20 shaku ‘said to be Mitsutada’ in mounts ‘of sabre style’. The custodian named is the Imperial House Museum, Ueno.",
"ja": "昭和二十一年（1946年）十月十四日、刀剣類所持許可証第一六五八五号が「Haruhito O」、すなわち閑院宮春仁王に対して発行された。長さ二・二〇尺、「光忠と伝う」太刀、拵は「サーベル式」。保管者は上野の帝室博物館と記される。",
"notes": [
1
],
"holds": {
"house": "kanin",
"year": 1946,
"head": "Prince Kan’in Haruhito"
}
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C04",
"status": "probable",
"period": [
"1946–1948",
"昭和二十一〜二十三年"
],
"en": "The swords of the Kan’in-no-miya appear to have been sold together to the dealer Iida Kunitarō between 1946 and 1948 and dispersed through his network, each with a note in the prince’s hand. The account is that of the memoir of Shibata Mitsuo.",
"ja": "閑院宮家の蔵刀は、昭和二十一年から二十三年の間に刀剣商飯田国太郎へ一括して売却され、宮の書き付けを添えて同人の販路を通じて分かたれたと考えられる。この記述は柴田光男の回想による。",
"notes": [
8
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C05",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1954",
"昭和二十九年"
],
"en": "On 5 April 1954 the NBTHK designated the sword Tokubetsu Kichō Tōken, as 太刀銘備前(以下切)伝備前光忠.",
"ja": "昭和二十九年（1954年）四月五日、日本美術刀剣保存協会は本刀を「太刀銘備前（以下切）伝備前光忠」として特別貴重刀剣に認定した。",
"notes": [
9
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C06 (designation)",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1971",
"昭和四十六年"
],
"en": "On 1 June 1971 the NBTHK designated the sword Jūyō Tōken at its 20th shinsa, as item 167. The description reads the surviving 備 and the strokes of 前 as the signature of Osafune Mitsutada and concludes that the attribution is correct (所伝は正しい).",
"ja": "昭和四十六年（1971年）六月一日、日本美術刀剣保存協会は第二十回重要刀剣審査において本刀を重要刀剣に指定した（第百六十七号）。説明は、残る「備」の一字と「前」の点画を長船光忠の銘と見て、「所伝は正しい」と結ぶ。",
"notes": [
10
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C07 (designation)",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"1978",
"昭和五十三年"
],
"en": "On 9 March 1978 the NBTHK designated the sword Tokubetsu Jūyō Tōken at its 6th shinsa, as item 18. The description notes that the imperial collection holds a Mitsutada signed 備前国長船光忠 and that this signature is close to it, and calls the tachi a measure linking Mitsutada’s modest and his flamboyant works, of excellent workmanship and high documentary value.",
"ja": "昭和五十三年（1978年）三月九日、日本美術刀剣保存協会は第六回特別重要刀剣審査において本刀を特別重要刀剣に指定した（第十八号）。説明は、御物に「備前国長船光忠」銘の作があり本太刀の銘がそれに近似すること、本太刀が光忠の小出来の作と豪壮華麗な作とを同人作と結びつける尺度となり、出来が優れ資料的価値も高いことを記す。",
"notes": [
2
]
},
{
"part": "II",
"src": "C21",
"status": "confirmed",
"period": [
"2024",
"令和六年"
],
"en": "In November 2024 Tanobe Michihiro (Tanzan) wrote a sayagaki on the shirasaya. It records the surviving 備 and the top of 前, notes that apart from two-character signatures the only extant blade signed 備前國長船光忠 is the one in the imperial collection, finds the hand close to it, with the groove carried into the tang and the signature cut on its flat as there, and calls the tachi an outstanding work of Mitsutada’s prime.",
"ja": "令和六年（2024年）十一月（甲辰霜月）、田野辺道宏（探山）は白鞘に鞘書を記した。茎先に残る「備」と「前」の上部を記し、二字銘以外に「備前國長船光忠」銘の現存するのは御物一口のみとして書風がこれに酷似すること、御物と同じく樋を茎まで掻き通し平地に銘を切ることを挙げ、同工壮年の屈指の優品と記す。",
"notes": [
11
]
}
],
"withdrawn": [],
"sources": [
{
"n": 1,
"key": "licence",
"grade": "E1",
"physical": true,
"en": "License for Possession of Sword No. 16585, issued 14 October 1946. Original document accompanying the work",
"ja": "刀剣類所持許可証第一六五八五号、昭和二十一年十月十四日発行。本刀に附属する原文書"
},
{
"n": 2,
"key": "zufu6",
"grade": "E1",
"en": "NBTHK, Tokubetsu Jūyō Tōken, 6th shinsa, designated 9 March 1978: the designation record and description of the work, item 18",
"ja": "日本美術刀剣保存協会、第六回特別重要刀剣、昭和五十三年三月九日指定：指定記録および説明、第十八号"
},
{
"n": 3,
"key": "toda",
"grade": "E2",
"pid": "12416521",
"frame": 71,
"en": "Jūyō bijutsuhin-tō nintei bukken mokuroku 重要美術品等認定物件目録, the Toda tachi signed 備前國長",
"ja": "『重要美術品等認定物件目録』、戸田家の太刀（銘 備前國長）"
},
{
"n": 4,
"key": "endo",
"grade": "E2",
"pid": "12634817",
"frame": 69,
"en": "NDL Digital Collections, a tachi attributed to Mitsutada, Jūyō Bunkazai, 82.4 cm",
"ja": "国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション、伝光忠の太刀（重要文化財、八二・四糎）"
},
{
"n": 5,
"key": "sagara",
"grade": "E2",
"pid": "12743662",
"frame": 10,
"en": "The lists of works certified Jūyō Bijutsuhin, item 576, the Sagara tachi signed 光忠, 2 shaku 2 sun 1 bu",
"ja": "重要美術品認定の目録、第五百七十六号、相良家の太刀（銘「光忠」、二尺二寸一分）"
},
{
"n": 6,
"key": "mounts",
"grade": "E2",
"en": "Photographs and measurements of the mounts, in the museum’s research file",
"ja": "拵の写真および計測（当館の調査記録）"
},
{
"n": 7,
"key": "zenshu",
"grade": "E2",
"pid": "2474929",
"frame": 130,
"en": "Nihontō zenshū 日本刀全集, vol. 7, on the scabbards made for the Kan’in revised-pattern army swords",
"ja": "『日本刀全集』第七巻、閑院宮家の改正軍刀の鞘について"
},
{
"n": 8,
"key": "shibata",
"grade": "E2",
"pid": "14030424",
"frame": 123,
"en": "Shibata Mitsuo, memoir, in Nihontō: nijūisseiki e no chōsen 日本刀 21世紀への挑戦",
"ja": "柴田光男の回想、『日本刀 21世紀への挑戦』所収"
},
{
"n": 9,
"key": "tokukicho",
"grade": "E1",
"pid": "2497066",
"frame": 41,
"en": "Tokubetsu kichō tōken bunrui mokuroku 特別貴重刀剣分類目録 (1957), the full entry",
"ja": "『特別貴重刀剣分類目録』（昭和三十二年）、当該項全文"
},
{
"n": 10,
"key": "zufu20",
"grade": "E1",
"en": "NBTHK, Jūyō Tōken, 20th shinsa, designated 1 June 1971: the designation record and description of the work, item 167",
"ja": "日本美術刀剣保存協会、第二十回重要刀剣、昭和四十六年六月一日指定：指定記録および説明、第百六十七号"
},
{
"n": 11,
"key": "tanobe24",
"grade": "E1",
"physical": true,
"en": "Sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro (Tanzan) on the shirasaya, dated 甲辰霜月, November 2024. Read in full from photographs of the scabbard",
"ja": "田野辺道宏（探山）の鞘書、甲辰霜月（令和六年十一月）。鞘の写真により全文を確認"
}
],
"sequence": [
{
"date": [
"Mid-Kamakura period",
"鎌倉時代中期"
],
"event": [
"Made in Bizen by Mitsutada; signed with a long signature",
"備前にて光忠が鍛え、長銘を切る"
],
"finding": null
},
{
"date": [
"1935–1945",
"昭和十年〜二十年"
],
"event": [
"In Type 94 army mounts with the Kan’in crest; to Prince Haruhito, 1945",
"閑院宮家紋の九四式軍刀拵に収まる。昭和二十年、春仁王に伝わる"
],
"finding": 3
},
{
"date": [
"1946",
"昭和二十一年"
],
"event": [
"Licence No. 16585, to Prince Kan’in Haruhito",
"許可証第一六五八五号、閑院宮春仁王"
],
"finding": 4
},
{
"date": [
"1946–1948",
"昭和二十一〜二十三年"
],
"event": [
"The Kan’in swords dispersed through the dealer Iida Kunitarō",
"閑院宮家の蔵刀、刀剣商飯田国太郎を通じて散ずる"
],
"finding": 5
},
{
"date": [
"1954",
"昭和二十九年"
],
"event": [
"Tokubetsu Kichō Tōken",
"特別貴重刀剣に認定"
],
"finding": 6
},
{
"date": [
"1971",
"昭和四十六年"
],
"event": [
"Jūyō Tōken, 20th shinsa, item 167",
"第二十回重要刀剣（第百六十七号）"
],
"finding": 7
},
{
"date": [
"1978",
"昭和五十三年"
],
"event": [
"Tokubetsu Jūyō Tōken, 6th shinsa, item 18",
"第六回特別重要刀剣（第十八号）"
],
"finding": 8
},
{
"date": [
"2024",
"令和六年"
],
"event": [
"Sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro (Tanzan)",
"田野辺道宏（探山）の鞘書"
],
"finding": 9
}
],
"museum": [
{
"when": [
"Mid-Kamakura period",
"鎌倉時代中期"
],
"en": "Made in Bizen by Mitsutada, founder of the Osafune school, and signed with a long signature.",
"ja": "備前にて、長船派の祖・光忠が鍛え、長銘を切る。",
"finding": null
},
{
"when": [
"c. 1935–1945",
"1935〜45年頃"
],
"en": "In Type 94 army mounts with the silver crest of the Kan’in-no-miya, made, it appears, for Prince Kan’in Kotohito; it passes to his son Prince Haruhito in 1945.",
"ja": "銀の閑院宮家紋を付した九四式軍刀拵に収まる。載仁親王のために誂えられ、1945年に春仁王に伝わったと考えられる。",
"finding": 3
},
{
"when": [
"1946",
"1946年"
],
"en": "A possession licence of 14 October names “Haruhito O”, identified by provenance research as Prince Kan’in Haruhito (閑院宮春仁王), with the Imperial House Museum, Ueno, as custodian.",
"ja": "10月14日付の所持許可証に、所持者として「Haruhito O」（伝来の調査により閑院宮春仁王と同定）、保管者として上野の帝室博物館が記される。",
"finding": 4
},
{
"when": [
"1946–1948",
"1946〜48年"
],
"en": "The swords of the Kan’in-no-miya are dispersed, it appears, through the dealer Iida Kunitarō.",
"ja": "閑院宮家の蔵刀は、刀剣商飯田国太郎を通じて散じたと考えられる。",
"finding": 5
},
{
"when": [
"1954",
"1954年"
],
"en": "Designated Tokubetsu Kichō Tōken by the NBTHK (5 April).",
"ja": "4月5日、日本美術刀剣保存協会により特別貴重刀剣に認定。",
"finding": 6
},
{
"when": [
"1971",
"1971年"
],
"en": "Designated Jūyō Tōken, NBTHK 20th shinsa (1 June, item 167).",
"ja": "6月1日、第二十回重要刀剣審査にて重要刀剣に指定（第百六十七号）。",
"finding": 7
},
{
"when": [
"1978",
"1978年"
],
"en": "Designated Tokubetsu Jūyō Tōken, NBTHK 6th shinsa (9 March, item 18).",
"ja": "3月9日、第六回特別重要刀剣審査にて特別重要刀剣に指定（第十八号）。",
"finding": 8
},
{
"when": [
"2024",
"2024年"
],
"en": "Sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro (Tanzan), November.",
"ja": "田野辺道宏（探山）の鞘書（十一月）。",
"finding": 9
}
],
"history": [
{
"date": [
"18 July 2026",
"令和八年七月十八日"
],
"en": "Research on the record completed.",
"ja": "調査を完了。"
}
],
"conclusion": [
{
"house": "kanin",
"kind": "former",
"en": "Formerly in the Collection of the Kan’in-no-miya Princely House",
"ja": "閑院宮家旧蔵",
"basis": {
"years": [
1946
],
"heads": [
"Prince Kan’in Haruhito"
]
},
"crest": "kanin-kiku.png"
}
]
}