Juzumaru Tsunetsugu
数珠丸恒次 (Juzumaru Tsunetsugu)
The tachi of the monk Nichiren, one of the tenka goken, with a Buddhist rosary on its hilt; a temple in Amagasaki keeps it.
History
It bears the two-character signature «Tsunetsugu». Tradition attributed it to Tsunetsugu of the Aoe school of Bitchū; examination of the blade in the twentieth century led several scholars to attribute it to Tsunetsugu of Ko-Bizen, on the evidence of its jigane and temper. According to tradition it belonged to the monk Nichiren, who tied a rosary (juzu) to its hilt, hence the name. It is a long tachi with deep koshizori, designated an Important Cultural Property, and is kept at the Honkō-ji temple in Amagasaki.