Kantei
A bare katana on a stand covered with white cloth, with a gilt habaki bearing a crest and the nakago on the left, on a black background.

Kamakura (Sagami) · end of the Kamakura · Sōshū-den

Masamune (正宗)

The master of the Sōshū-den and the most celebrated name of the Japanese sword: what the documents say, what is tradition, his famous works and his sources

Masamune (正宗, Masamune), also called Gorō Nyūdō (五郎入道, Gorō Nyūdō) and Okazaki Masamune (岡崎正宗, Okazaki Masamune), worked in Kamakura, in Sagami province, between the end of the Kamakura period and the beginning of the Nanbokuchō. He is the representative swordsmith of the Sōshū-den and the most celebrated name of the Japanese sword. Almost everything told of his life is later tradition: what is documented is his name in medieval treatises, a few signed tantō and his place in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō.

Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

59
Blades of his in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō (41 preserved and 18 lost), more than of any other swordsmith
9
National Treasures attributed to him (4 katana and 5 tantō), as of August 2024
10
Important Cultural Properties attributed to him, as of August 2024
3 or 4
Signed tantō that are accepted: Fudō, Kyōgoku and Daikoku (English Wikipedia); Nipponica adds the Honjō
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Masamune; also Gorō Nyūdō, Okazaki Masamune and Okazaki Gorō Nyūdō AT
Kanji and reading
正宗 (Masamune) · 五郎入道正宗 (Gorō Nyūdō Masamune) · 岡崎五郎入道正宗 (Okazaki Gorō Nyūdō Masamune) AT
Period
From the end of the Kamakura to the beginning of the Nanbokuchō, from the end of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th: on that there is no dispute. His dates of birth and death are not known; those of 1264 and 1343 come from an Edo-period treatise. AT
Province
Sagami: Kamakura AT
School or tradition
Sōshū-den, one of the five traditions (五箇伝, gokaden), of which he is the representative swordsmith AT
Master and generations
The Meizukushi treatise gives him as a pupil of Shintōgo Kunimitsu. His relationship with Yukimitsu is disputed; Sadamune is taken to be his son or his adopted son. AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his name in the Meizukushi, a few signed tantō and his blades with an official record. Tradition: almost all of his biography, the “ten pupils” and his encounters with Muramasa. AT

In short

What we know. That his name is in the Meizukushi, the oldest sword-appraisal treatise. That there are tantō with his signature, such as the Fudō Masamune at the Tokugawa Art Museum. The Kyōhō meibutsuchō of 1719 gives him 59 blades, the highest count for a swordsmith.

How we know it. From the official records of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and of the Tokyo National Museum. His life, from Wikipedia and from the Japanese encyclopaedias collected by Kotobank.

What we do not know. When he was born and died, who his pupils really were, and how many of the unsigned blades attributed to him are his.

Sections

  1. Meizukushi · Shintōgo Kunimitsu · legends Life and times What the old treatises say, his dates, his master and his family, the “ten pupils” and the legends.
  2. Notare · nie · kinzōgan-mei Work and style The kantei keys of his blades, the official records of four of them and his signature.
  3. Kokuhō · meibutsu · Tenka sansaku Famous works His nine National Treasures, his Important Cultural Properties, the lost blades and his place in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō.
  4. Masamune exhibitions Videos Four videos: the Tokugawa Art Museum exhibition of 2022, the Fukuyama one of 2024 and the Tsugaru Masamune in Tokyo.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.