Videos and press · Matsuba Kagemasa (松葉景正)

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Kagemasa in person
Where it is not known whether he appears
His works on video
His school
Television
Miyazaki press
Magazines, DVDs and books
Covers and reports

Kagemasa in person

Ten videos in which he certainly appears, from 2013 to 2025: the two talks with Aoki Hiroyuki tell of the fire and the new forge, and in several he cuts bamboo. The 2024 television news report on the fire and his apprentice can be seen in its stills, in “The swordsmith”. In the 2017 Prague talk, the title says so. In none of the cuts is the blade identified.

**青木宏之 (Aoki Hiroyuki) vs 松葉景正 (Matsuba Kagemasa), 一夜限りの幻の対談 (ichiya kagiri no maboroshi no taidan; a one-off talk)** · Hiroyuki Aoki Channel

16:45 · 20 April 2024
Talk with Aoki Hiroyuki (青木宏之), founder of Shintaidō. 0:36, the caption “松葉景正（刀鍛冶）” (Matsuba Kagemasa, katanakaji: “Matsuba Kagemasa, swordsmith”), seated in his field; 0:45–0:57, photos of him in the forge; 1:00–2:30, they discuss a blade by 井上真改 (Inoue Shinkai) that Aoki owns; 3:00–5:15, his method; around 8:00, a photo of the house in flames; 11:00, the new forge; 11:45–12:30, his pace of work. He says that he forges at a low temperature, “ほとんど火花が出ないくらい” (hotondo hibana ga denai kurai, “with hardly any sparks flying”), and always measures the temperature of the quenching water with a thermometer; that the place of the new forge is called 大人 (Ōhito); that he used to make a blade in about 4 days and today takes 10 to 12, with a 1.4 kg hammer instead of the 2.5 kg one; and that he wants to forge until he is 85. A caption says the swords were saved from the fire. According to the description, Aoki uses two swords of his.

**日本刀について大いに語る (Nihontō ni tsuite ōi ni kataru; talking at length about the Japanese sword): 青木宏之 (Aoki Hiroyuki) vs 松葉景正 (Matsuba Kagemasa)** · Hiroyuki Aoki Channel

10:18 · 11 May 2024
The second part. 0:40–1:25, how they met, and 1:05, a caption about Kobayashi Yasuhiro (小林康宏); 3:05, the caption “2023年10月18日松葉さん宅（住宅・作業場・倉庫）全焼” (nisen-nijūsan-nen jūgatsu jūhachi-nichi, Matsuba-san taku, jūtaku sagyōba sōko, zenshō: “18 October 2023: Matsuba’s house, workshop and storehouse burn to the ground”); 4:00, a photo of him cutting bamboo in his field. He says that the old forge was less than 1 km from the sea, that he spent some four months in a wheelchair because of an illness and that in the new one he will be able to work even if his legs fail him.

**刀匠松葉國正刀剣展 (Tōshō Matsuba Kunimasa tōkenten; Sword exhibition of the swordsmith Matsuba Kunimasa)** · ひなた文化散歩 (Hinata bunka sanpo), Miyazaki Prefecture

15:00 · 28 October 2021
Miyazaki Prefecture documentary on his exhibition at the Hyūga cultural centre (7–14 October 2021), part of the national cultural festival. 0:15–1:15, the room and the biographical captions; 2:00–2:15, the interview: “刀は人生そのもの” (katana wa jinsei sono mono, “the sword is life itself”); 2:45, the mangaka かまたきみこ (Kamata Kimiko); 3:00–3:30, Paul Martin, who worked at the British Museum, says he makes Chōgi swords with his own personality; 5:00–12:30, the talk; 9:00, a hamon; 9:45, a tachi; 14:30, a tantō.

「国民文化祭」刀匠松葉國正刀剣展「刀剣トークショー！」 (Kokumin Bunkasai, Tōshō Matsuba Kunimasa tōkenten, tōken tōku shō; National cultural festival: the exhibition talk) · 日向市文化交流センター (Hyūga-shi Bunka Kōryū Sentā)

1:11:43 · 30 October 2021
The whole talk of 10 October 2021 with Kamata Kimiko and Paul Martin, in a fixed, distant shot. At the start he announces that he is going to change his smith name; around 2:20–3:30, he cuts a bamboo on the stage. The blade he cuts with is not identified in the video.

**Talk at the Dobrá Čajovna, 20 January 2017** · Kolibrik Films

1:56:00 · 27 January 2017
Talk in a Prague tea house, with an interpreter. 10:00–32:00, several blades and a mounted katana on the table; 44:00–60:00, a katana in hand; 84:00, the detail of a tsuka; 96:00, another blade with koshirae. That the speaker is him is stated by the title. The face confirms it, with the hair still black. Whose the blades on the table are is not said.

**松葉國正老師示範斬竹子 (Matsuba Kunimasa rōshi shihan zan chikushi; master Matsuba Kunimasa gives a bamboo-cutting demonstration), 16 October 2016** · 台大居合道社 (Taidai iaidō-sha)

11:28 · 17 October 2016
Bamboo-cutting demonstration in a Taipei gym, filmed vertically by the iai club of National Taiwan University: around 1:30–3:00 and 6:45–8:45, the cuts; 9:30–10:00, he shows the blade to a student. The blade is not identified: that it is his is probable, not verified.

**Tameshigiri avec Kunimasa Matsuba / Sarrebruck 2019** · Aikido Nancy SC - Le PUNCH

1:35 · 13 May 2019
Aikidō, kenjutsu, iaidō and tameshigiri seminar in Saarbrücken, in April 2019. 0:10, the caption “Kunimasa Matsuba, Maître de forge japonaise, 6ème Dan Aikikai”; 0:20–1:10, he cuts and corrects the students. The blade he cuts with is not identified.

**Visit to the Hakuzan Dojo** · Hakuzan Dojo

2:11 · 1 December 2023
Kenjutsu class with bokutō in a Prague dōjō, in 2023, after the fire. The description credits him with the menkyo kaiden of the Jikishinkage-ryū.

**Visit to the Hakuzan Dojo (2025)** · Hakuzan Dojo

2:10 · 18 January 2025
The second visit: 0:00, the caption “Matsuba sensei v Hakuzan dojo 2025”; 0:20–1:50, class with sword and bokutō; 1:20, a close-up.

**松葉國正 (Matsuba Kunimasa), 剣と合氣道入門 (ken to aikidō nyūmon; sword and aikidō, an introduction), SPD-7513** · questchannel

2:09 · 1 May 2013
The trailer for the 2012 DVD from the publisher Quest: 0:10–0:30, forging, with a biographical caption; 0:40, kata with the sword; 1:00, the interview; 1:10–1:20, his bamboo grove.

**松葉國正 (Matsuba Kunimasa), 剣と合気道 (ken to aikidō) 2, 大周天杖術 (daishūten jōjutsu), 陰陽合気道鍛錬法 (in'yō aikidō tanrenhō), SPD-7530** · questchannel

2:33 · 27 December 2017
The trailer for the second DVD: 0:10–0:20, he cuts bamboo in his bamboo grove; 0:30–1:40, the interview. The blade he cuts with is not identified.

Where it is not known whether he appears

Three videos that name him, but in which he cannot be made out or is not seen from the front.

**にっぽん真発見 (Nippon shin-hakken; rediscovering Japan): 宮崎県 (Miyazaki-ken)** · BSテレ東 (Tere-Tō), BS TV Tokyo

0:30 · 5 March 2017
The trailer for the programme of 12 March 2017; 0:20, a forge with sparks. The trailer’s tagline: “４年連続日本一に輝いた刀匠の美しき刃文の秘密” (yonen renzoku Nihon-ichi ni kagayaita tōshō no utsukushiki hamon no himitsu, “the secret of the beautiful hamon of the swordsmith who was the best in Japan four years in a row”). The trailer does not show him from the front: that the man at the forge is him is our interpretation. The full programme is not on YouTube.

**刀匠松葉國正 (tōshō Matsuba Kunimasa), “復刻神楽太刀” (fukkoku kagura-tachi) 奉納 (hōnō), 入魂祭 (nyūkonsai; offering of the restored kagura-tachi), 29 September 2011** · iaimania

24:03 · 29 September 2011
A ceremony at the 大塚神社 (Ōtsuka Jinja) shrine, in Miyazaki, with the camera fixed and from behind. According to the title and the description, a 神楽太刀 (kagura-tachi) that he forged from the military sabre of the 23rd priest is offered. He cannot be made out: it is not known whether he appears.

**松葉國正さん (Matsuba Kunimasa-san)** · hemagummybear

0:31 · 21 July 2020
Recorded on 5 June 2011: two men practise an aikidō technique in a hall. That one of them is him has not been verified.

His works on video

His last two competition works as mukansa, with the official NBTHK information sheet, and other blades filmed with his signature or their label.

**日本刀 (Nihontō), 令和五年度現代刀職展 (Reiwa gonendo Gendai Tōshokuten) 2, 作刀無鑑査 (sakutō mukansa)** · 迫田貫路 (probable reading: Sakoda Kanji)

12:21 · 19 September 2023
His 2023 mukansa katana, 日向國住景正作之 (Hyūga no Kuni-jū Kagemasa kore o saku), 令和五年二月日 (Reiwa gonen nigatsu hi), 71.6 cm, in 1080p: 0:00, the list of mukansa with his name; 7:12, the information sheet with his portrait; 7:20, the blade; 7:30–7:44, the hamon, wide gunome with tobiyaki (hitatsura); 7:46, the point; 7:54–8:30, the tang, the signature and the gold habaki. A soejō he wrote in 2025 describes it as made in the manner of the 唐柏 (Karakashiwa).

**日本刀 (Nihontō) 現代刀展 (gendaitōten) 作刀の部 (sakutō no bu) + 10, 刀剣博物館 (Tōken Hakubutsukan)** · 迫田貫路 (probable reading: Sakoda Kanji)

20:37 · 15 December 2022
His 2022 mukansa tachi, 日向國住景正作之 (Hyūga no Kuni-jū Kagemasa kore o saku), 令和四年五月吉日 (Reiwa yonen gogatsu kichijitsu), 78.8 cm, only in 360p: 0:10–0:16, the poster; 13:34, the information sheet with his portrait; 13:44, the blade; 13:54, the tang; 14:04–14:14, the hamon and the point; 14:34–15:00, the signature; 15:10–16:20, the hamon close up, with tobiyaki.

2022年度現代刀職展 (nisen-nijūni-nendo Gendai Tōshokuten), 今に伝わるいにしえの技 (ima ni tsutawaru inishie no waza; the ancient technique handed down to today), 最終日に行って来ました (saishūbi ni itte kimashita; I went on the last day) · 永野照男 (probable reading: Nagano Teruo)

35:44 · 26 December 2022
The same 2022 tachi, in 720p and hand-held: 9:54, the information sheet; 9:58–10:28, the stand, the tang and the hamon.

**刀匠松葉国正刀剣展 (Tōshō Matsuba Kunimasa tōkenten)** · 若杉広美 (probable reading: Wakasugi Hiromi)

4:02 · 10 October 2021
The 2021 Hyūga exhibition, in 480p: 0:50, the label of the utsushi of the “号からかしわ” (gō Karakashiwa) in 皆焼 (hitatsura), his mukansa work of 平成31年 (Heisei 31, 2019); 1:19, the label “チェコ国プラハからの注文品脇差” (Cheko-koku Puraha kara no chūmonhin, wakizashi: “wakizashi commissioned from Prague, in the Czech Republic”); 1:40, a blade with a double-edged point; 2:05–3:45, tachi and koshirae. Whether that 2019 work is the 78.6 cm tachi given by the NBTHK has not been checked.

刀匠 (tōshō) 松葉景正さん作の日本刀展示会 (Matsuba Kagemasa-san saku no nihontō tenjikai), 鵜戸神宮で20日まで開催 (Udo Jingū de hatsuka made kaisai; swords by the swordsmith Matsuba Kagemasa at the Udo shrine, until the 20th) · MRT 宮崎放送 (Miyazaki Hōsō)

0:54 · 16 August 2023
The MRT news report on the exhibition of eleven blades at the Udo shrine: 0:10, the room; 0:20, the “鵜羽ノ御太刀” (probable reading: Unoha no on-tachi), with the Udo coastline in the hamon; 0:30, a tachi. The text of the report adds the restoration of the 鵜ノ丸太刀 (probable reading: Unomaru no tachi), a treasure of the shrine lost after the war. The ōdachi of 5 shaku 3 sun that he speaks of is not seen.

**大和守安定 (Yamato-no-kami Yasusada), 壬生義士伝 (Mibu Gishiden) 作中之刀倣 (sakuchū no katana narau), 日州住 (Nisshū-jū) 國正作 (Kunimasa saku)** · N N (knob_N)

0:35 · 26 May 2025
A katana 日州住國正作 (Nisshū-jū Kunimasa saku), 平成甲午年冬月 (Heisei kōgo-nen tōgetsu, winter 2014), modelled on the 大和守安定 (Yamato-no-kami Yasusada) of the manga 『壬生義士伝』 (Mibu Gishiden): 0:00, the label; 0:10, the blade; 0:20, the koshirae; 0:30, the manga poster.

His school

A pupil of his, in his own forge.

**どき生百景 (probable reading: Dokiiki hyakkei) vol. 61, スウェーデン生まれの刀匠 (Suwēden umare no tōshō; the Swedish-born swordsmith), 防府市 (Hōfu-shi)** · yabチャンネル (yab channeru)

2:50 · 4 September 2021
His Swedish pupil 鏡夜叉麿 (Kagami Yashamaro), in his forge in Hōfu (Yamaguchi): 1:00, “分からなかったら師匠からよく叱られた” (wakaranakattara shishō kara yoku shikarareta, “if I didn’t understand, the master would scold me a lot”); 1:40, the year before he made seven blades, tantō and wakizashi included. The master does not appear.

Television

TNC, “ドキュメント九州” (Dokyumento Kyūshū), 4 October 2009: “幸福な貧乏人刀匠松葉國正” (Kōfuku na binbōnin tōshō Matsuba Kunimasa: “A happy poor man: the swordsmith Matsuba Kunimasa”) (programme page). It sums up his life thus: “かつてアメリカへ渡るも挫折” (“he went to the United States, but failed”), and says he has made more than 500 swords.
“ひむかの宝” (Himuka no takara, “treasures of Hyūga”), 18 May 2014: short documentary, linked on the Art of Katana blog in 2014 (see “Sources”). The video is no longer available on YouTube.
RKB Mainichi Hōsō (RKB毎日放送) and MRT Miyazaki Hōsō (MRT宮崎放送), “日本刀をヨーロッパへ” (“The Japanese sword, to Europe”): report on his exhibition in Germany, published on the RKB website on 16 March 2021 (rkb.jp). It dates from around 2019: it says he is 60 and was celebrating twenty years in Europe. He says he makes about 20 swords a year, all on commission, that some 200 have gone to Europe, that there were 150 collectors at the exhibition and that he speaks fluent English (“英会話は堪能”, eikaiwa wa tannō).

Miyazaki press

MRT, October 2023: news of the fire that destroyed his house and workshop. The article has been taken down; the headline remains.
UMK: a report on his new challenge: spreading the culture of the sword from the mountains and attracting foreign tourists. Only the search engine summary was read.

Magazines, DVDs and books

『秘伝』 (Hiden), November 2016: “日向国の刀鍛冶武道家剣と合気の武産刀試斬十万本！” (Hyūga no kuni no katanakaji budōka, ken to aiki no takemusu-tō, shizan jūman-bon: “The budōka swordsmith of Hyūga, the sword of the sword and aiki: a hundred thousand test cuts!”). Only the summary was read.
『秘伝』 (Hiden), August 2021: “刀鍛冶武道家・松葉國正劍心合気道” (katanakaji budōka Matsuba Kunimasa kenshin aikidō, “The budōka swordsmith Matsuba Kunimasa: the aikidō of the heart of the sword”).
DVD “松葉國正剣と合氣道入門” (Matsuba Kunimasa ken to aikidō nyūmon, “Matsuba Kunimasa: an introduction to the sword and aikidō”), Quest, 20 June 2012.
『日本刀が斬れる理由、美しい理由』 (“Why the Japanese sword cuts and why it is beautiful”), BAB Japan, October 2017, ISBN 978-4-8142-0084-9. According to the reviews, chapter 2 argues that the sword is a weapon and nothing else, and chapter 3 describes how he forges.
『“刀”を究めればわかる“武”の練り方』 (“What getting to the bottom of the sword teaches about budō”), BAB Japan, 2022. The cover he publishes also carries the title “戦う刀匠” (Tatakau tōshō, “The fighting swordsmith”): it is the same book.

Covers and reports

The cover of 『日本刀が斬れる理由、美しい理由』 (Nihontō ga kireru riyū, utsukushii riyū, 2017). Photo: dealer in Japan
The cover of his 2022 book, which carries both titles: “戦う刀匠” (Tatakau tōshō) and 『刀を究めればわかる武の練り方』 (“what getting to the bottom of the sword teaches about budō”). Photo: the smith himself
The cover of Hiden, August 2021. Photo: the smith himself
His feature in Hiden, August 2021. Photo: the smith himself