Ōdenta Mitsuyo
大典太光世 (Ōdenta Mitsuyo)
The tachi by Mitsuyo of Miike, one of the tenka goken: short, very wide and heavy, handed down in the Maeda house.
History
It was forged by Mitsuyo, called Tenta, of Miike in Chikugo, at the end of the Heian period, and bears the signature «Mitsuyo saku». It is a tachi with a blade short for its time but with a very wide mihaba and thick kasane, of powerful appearance. It belonged to the Ashikaga and passed to the Maeda house of Kaga, where tradition credits it with the power to heal the sick; it was designated a National Treasure in 1957 and is kept by the Maeda Ikutokukai foundation.