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The Tsurumaru
- Its official name is 山城国国永御太刀 名物鶴丸 (Yamashiro no Kuni Kuninaga on-tachi, meibutsu Tsurumaru). It is a 御物 (gyobutsu), a property of the Imperial Household in the care of the Board of Chamberlains of the Imperial Household Agency, and it is not exhibited. It is in the 享保名物帳 (Kyōhō meibutsuchō), which does not explain where its name comes from.
- It is an unshortened tachi. The Japanese Wikipedia gives a blade of 78.63 cm and a sori of 2.73; Sesko, 78.8 and 2.7. Very dense ko-itame with fine ji-nie, suguha-chō with ko-midare and ko-chōji in thick nioi, plenty of ko-nie and kinsuji, and a bōshi that tends to sugu with ko-maru-kaeri.
- It came to the Date of Sendai: in 1704 the fourth lord, Tsunamura, gave it to the fifth, Yoshimura. Date Munemoto presented it to the Emperor Meiji in 1901, during his visit to Sendai, and it is used on 1 January in the New Year rite (Saitansai). From before the Date, several stories circulate that contradict one another.
- For Sesko, most experts consider it the finest work of Kuninaga and of the whole early Kyoto sword (Ko-Kyō-mono); for Harada Kazutoshi, of the Tokyo National Museum, it is the finest of the four works of his that survive.
His only ken
The 剣 銘国永 (ken, mei Kuninaga), of 32.1 cm, has been an Important Cultural Property since 28 June 1956 and belongs to a private owner. Double-edged (ryō-shinogi-zukuri) and slim, of itame with masame, with notare and ko-midare, hi on both faces and an unshortened tang with a single hole. The State record says that his works are extremely rare and that no other ken by him is known.
His signed tachi
| Work | Designation | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| 山城国国永御太刀 名物鶴丸 (Yamashiro no Kuni Kuninaga on-tachi, meibutsu Tsurumaru) | Gyobutsu, property of the Imperial Household | Imperial Household Agency; not exhibited |
| 剣 銘国永 (ken, mei Kuninaga), 32.1 cm | Important Cultural Property, 28 June 1956 | Private collection |
| Tachi 銘国永 (mei Kuninaga), the Ise one | Not recorded | Ise shrine, according to Sesko |
| Tachi 銘国永 (mei Kuninaga), of the Date of Uwajima, 69.35 cm | Important Art Object, 1937 | NBTHK, since 2025 |
| Tachi 銘国永 (mei Kuninaga), of Itō Miyoji, 75.4 cm | Important Art Object | Not known |
- The one of the Date of Uwajima is shortened, measures 69.35 cm with a sori of 1.95 and bears a bonji, a koshi-hi and a suken; it has a certificate by Hon'ami Kōchū of 1712. It became an Important Art Object in 1937 and in 2025 Suzuki Shōichi donated it to the NBTHK. From its measurements it seems to be the same one that Sesko calls the Uwajima-Date (69.4 cm).
- No official record of the Ise tachi has been found, and it is not known where the Itō Miyoji one is today.
Gallery
Tachi signed 国永 (Kuninaga), the one of the Date of Uwajima, an Important Art Object: the point, the base of the blade on both sides, with the suken, the bonji and the signature, and the whole blade. Photo: dealer outside Japan