Famous works · Awataguchi Hisakuni (粟田口久国)

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His designated blades and those in museums
Two “Hisakuni” that are not his
In the treatises

Old black-and-white photograph of a long, curved tachi blade on a dark background, with the tang on the left. — The tachi that is a National Treasure, in the plate of the 『国宝図録』 (Kokuhō Zuroku) of 1952. 文化財協会 (Bunkazai Kyōkai; 『国宝図録』, Kokuhō Zuroku, vol. 1, 1952), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · source

His designated blades and those in museums

Work	Rank	Where it is	Details
Tachi 太刀銘久国 (tachi mei Hisakuni), formerly of the Matsudaira of Saijō (Iyo)	National Treasure (国宝, kokuhō)	Agency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo	80.4 cm, sori 3.0 cm; first half of the 13th century; no. 31 of the exhibition “Kyō no katana” (Kyoto National Museum, 2018)
Signed tachi, suriage	Imperial collection (gyobutsu)	Imperial collection	66.7 cm
Tachi 太刀銘久国 (tachi mei Hisakuni)	Important Cultural Property (重要文化財, jūyō bunkazai), since 29 August 1950	Private collection	78.4 cm, sori 1.6 cm; suriage
Tantō 短刀銘久国 (tantō mei Hisakuni)	Important Cultural Property, since 29 August 1950	Private collection	20.1 cm; heirloom of the Matsudaira of Saijō, according to Sesko
Signed tantō, wide and long, with bōhi	Important Art Object (重要美術品, jūyō bijutsuhin)	Not recorded	29.4 cm
Signed tachi, ubu, with a thick signature	Tokubetsu jūyō tōken (NBTHK)	Not recorded	74.4 cm
Tantō 短刀銘藤次郎久国 (tantō mei Tōjirō Hisakuni), heirloom of the Date, with bonji and suken	Jūyō tōken (NBTHK)	Not recorded	22.4 cm
Tachi 太刀銘藤次郎久国 (tachi mei Tōjirō Hisakuni), with a gold inlay by Shimazu Narinobu	Jūyō tōken (NBTHK)	Not recorded	68.4 cm
Katana 刀銘久国 (katana mei Hisakuni), shortened tachi, from the Tokugawa of Owari	No designation	Tokyo National Museum (F-8)	Signature kept as gakumei

Note

In the State database, Bunka Isan Online, two Important Cultural Properties of his are recorded: the tachi of 78.4 cm and the tantō of 20.1 cm. He has one National Treasure, the tachi of the Matsudaira of Saijō. The measurements and ranks without an official record come from Markus Sesko; the National Treasure, from the English Wikipedia list and from that of the Kyoto exhibition of 2018. Japanese Wikipedia counts one National Treasure and three Important Cultural Properties, two tachi whose whereabouts are unknown and a privately owned tantō, while the official record gives the tachi of 78.4 cm as privately owned. Sesko describes a tachi of 78.5 cm that belonged to the Akimoto family, the second best of his long blades: it may be the same one, but this is not confirmed.

Two “Hisakuni” that are not his

There are two Important Cultural Properties bearing the name Hisakuni elsewhere: a tachi of the Itsukushima shrine, whose record says that the blade bears the signature Hisakuni, and a ken of the Nikkō Tōshōgū dated Kōan 3 (1280). Japanese Wikipedia says they are not by Awataguchi Hisakuni. The date of 1280 on the ken places it some eighty years after him.

In the treatises

The 『懐宝剣尺』 (Kaihō Kenjaku), of 1830, puts him in the highest grade of kotō for his artistic value; because of their rarity, no cutting tests were made with his blades, and their sharpness is unknown, according to Japanese Wikipedia. The sources consulted record no blade of his in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō (享保名物帳) or in the wazamono lists.