Kantei
Old ink drawing of a tachi with its mounting and, below, its blade and its tang, with notes of measurements in Japanese.

Smith of Yamashiro (Kyoto) and of Kamakura · early and middle Kamakura

Awataguchi Kunitsuna (粟田口国綱)

The youngest of the Awataguchi brothers of Kyoto, whom tradition takes to Kamakura to forge for the Hōjō regents, and maker of the Onimaru, one of the five swords under heaven: what is documented, the tradition, his style and his works

Kunitsuna was according to tradition the youngest of the Awataguchi brothers. The Hōjō regents summoned him to Kamakura, where tradition places the origin of sword-making in Sagami; there he is said to have forged the Onimaru, today in the imperial collection and one of the five swords that tradition places above all others.

『集古十種』 (Shūko Jisshu), late 18th century; reproduction by AleksandrGertsen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1163-1255
Dates according to tradition
8
Known signed works
Since 1871
Onimaru, imperial collection
78.2 cm
Nagasa of the Onimaru
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Awataguchi Kunitsuna AT
Kanji and reading
粟田口国綱 (Awataguchi Kunitsuna) AT
Period
Early and middle Kamakura; tradition gives him 1163 to 1255, with a question mark AT
Province
Yamashiro (Awataguchi, in Kyoto) and, later, Sagami (Kamakura) AT
School
Awataguchi (粟田口派, Awataguchi-ha) AT
Family and master
Sixth son of Kuniie, according to tradition; for the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, grandson of Kuniyori. Brother of Hisakuni and Kunitomo; tradition gives him Shintōgo Kunimitsu as a son AT
Title
左近将監 (Sakon Shōgen) AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his signed tachi and their official designations. Tradition: the kinship, the dates, the regent who summoned him and the story of the Onimaru, which varies from one old text to another AT

In short

He is said to have been a rotating smith of the retired emperor Go-Toba and later to have moved to Yamanouchi, in Kamakura, where he forged the Onimaru for Hōjō Tokiyori, according to Japanese Wikipedia. There he worked with smiths from Bizen at the birth of local sword-making, and Markus Sesko recognises two styles in him: the slender and elegant one of Yamashiro and a more powerful one from Kamakura onwards; only eight signed works of his are known. His most famous blade is the Onimaru, which appears in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō (享保名物帳) and has been an imperial object since 1871.

Sections

  1. Awataguchi · Kamakura · the Hōjō regents Life and times The Awataguchi school, his move to Kamakura, the two versions of the regent who summoned him and the beginning of sword-making in Sagami.
  2. Two styles · ko-itame · nie Work and style The kantei keys: the slender Kyoto style and the powerful Kamakura style, with sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and signature.
  3. Onimaru · Tenka Goken · Important Cultural Properties Famous works The Onimaru, of the imperial collection, the tachi of the Tokugawa Art Museum and of the Hie shrine, and the blades of doubtful attribution.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit of the image.