Onimaru Kunitsuna
鬼丸国綱 (Onimaru Kunitsuna)
The tachi by Awataguchi Kunitsuna, one of the tenka goken and the only one in the imperial collection.
History
It was forged by Kunitsuna, of the Awataguchi school of Kyoto, at the beginning of the Kamakura period, and bears his two-character signature. Its name, «demon circle», comes from the legend of Hōjō Tokimasa, tormented by a demon in his dreams until the tachi, leaning by his bed, fell and cut a demon-shaped brazier figure. It passed through the Hōjō, the Ashikaga and the Hon'ami house, and since the Meiji era it has belonged to the imperial collection, so it falls outside the state designations.