Kantei
An unmounted katana, whole and upright, on a black background, with the tang at the bottom.

Bizen · Osafune · Sue-Bizen

Osafune Katsumitsu (長船勝光)

A line of swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen, who signed Katsumitsu in the late Muromachi period and took the swordsmiths of Osafune to the shōgun’s camp: their period, their style, their work and their sources

Katsumitsu (勝光, Katsumitsu) is a name signed by several generations of swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen Province, at the end of the Muromachi period. It is one of the great names of Sue-Bizen, and in 1488 a Katsumitsu took the swordsmiths of Osafune to forge in the shōgun’s camp.

Kyūshū National Museum, via ColBase

1488
Forging in the shōgun’s camp
About 60
Bizen swordsmiths who went up to the capital
1505
His katana in the Kyūshū National Museum
Yoki-wazamono
In the Yamada cutting list
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Katsumitsu, of Osafune; each swordsmith is told apart by the title in his signature: 右京亮 (Ukyō no Suke), 次郎左衛門尉 (Jirōzaemon-no-jō) and others HD
Kanji and reading
長船勝光 (Osafune Katsumitsu) · 勝光 (Katsumitsu) HD
Period
Late Muromachi and Sengoku: the campaign of 1488 and works dated 1505, 1508 and 1509. Sesko also cites a katana made with Munemitsu in 1487. HD
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen): Osafune HD
School
Osafune (長船派, Osafune-ha): Sue-Bizen (末備前, Sue-Bizen), with Sukesada, Munemitsu, Kiyomitsu and Tadamitsu HD
Master
Not recorded in the sources consulted PC
Generations
Several with the same name, according to Kotobank and the Kyūshū National Museum; their genealogy is in none of the sources consulted AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: the campaign of 1488, in a diary of the time, and his signed and dated blades. With no citable source: how many Katsumitsu there were and in what order. HD

In short

What we know. In 1488, the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa, on campaign in Ōmi, sent for Katsumitsu, who forged with the swordsmiths of Osafune in his camp. Blades signed and dated in the early 16th century survive, such as the katana of 1505 in the Kyūshū National Museum, and a wakizashi made with Munemitsu, jūyō tōken.

How we know it. From the 蔭涼軒日録 (Inryōken nichiroku), a diary of the time, cited by Kotobank and the Kyūshū National Museum; from the blades themselves, and from the NBTHK.

What we do not know. How many Katsumitsu there were, in what order and when each was born or died.

Sections

  1. 1488 · Ōmi · the shōgun Yoshihisa Life and times A name over several generations, the camp at Magari in 1488 and Sue-Bizen.
  2. Chōji · gunome · kurikara Work and style Kantei keys to their work: the shape, the steel, the temper, the engravings and the signature.
  3. Kyūshū · jūyō tōken · Sakamoto Ryōma Famous works Their blades in museums, their works made with Munemitsu and their place in the cutting list.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.