Kantei
An unmounted katana, whole, on a black background, with the tang on the left and the wavy temper along the edge.

Bizen · Osafune · Muromachi

Osafune Norimitsu (長船則光)

A name borne by several swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen, and the katana of 1459 that one of them forged far from his workshop: his period, his style, his work and his sources

Norimitsu (則光, Norimitsu) is the name of several swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen Province. The old catalogues count nine generations; the best known worked in the mid-15th century and in 1459, far from his workshop, forged a katana that is today an Important Cultural Property.

Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase

9
Generations, according to the old catalogues
1459
His best-documented work
1958
Important Cultural Property
Yoki-wazamono
In the Yamada cutting list
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Norimitsu, of Osafune; on the katana of 1459 he signs with the title 左衛門尉 (Saemon-no-jō) and the surname 藤原 (Fujiwara) HD
Kanji and reading
長船則光 (Osafune Norimitsu) · 則光 (Norimitsu) HD
Period
Mid and late Muromachi: the NBTHK places the peak of his work around the Kanshō era (1460–1466), with much work between the Eikyō and Bunmei eras (1429–1486). HD
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen): Osafune HD
School
Osafune (長船派, Osafune-ha): Eikyō-Bizen, the step between Ōei-Bizen and Sue-Bizen, and Sue-Bizen AT
Master
The first of the name, a pupil of 長光 (Nagamitsu), according to the old catalogues AT
Generations
Nine, according to the old catalogues (銘鑑, meikan), without their names; the best documented, the one of the Kanshō era, called 寛正則光 (Kanshō Norimitsu) AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: the katana of 1459, with its signature, its client, its place and its date. From tradition: the nine generations and that the first was a pupil of Nagamitsu. HD

In short

What we know. A Norimitsu of Osafune with the title of Saemon-no-jō forged at the end of 1459 (6 January 1460 in the Gregorian calendar) a katana for Takatori Taisuke, local lord of Takatori, in Mimasaka, and engraved all of it on the tang: it has been an Important Cultural Property since 1958. The NBTHK places the peak of Norimitsu’s work in the Kanshō era (1460–1466).

How we know it. From the blade itself, from its record in the database of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and in ColBase, and from the NBTHK. The generations come from the old catalogues, through the Japanese Wikipedia.

What we do not know. The dates of birth and death of any Norimitsu, the names of his nine generations and how many works by each survive.

Sections

  1. Eikyō · Kanshō · Bunmei Life and times The generations of the name, the Norimitsu of the Kanshō era and the Osafune school in the 15th century.
  2. Eikyō-Bizen · gunome-midare Work and style Kantei keys to his work: the shape, the steel, the temper, the point and the signature.
  3. The Kurosaka katana (1459) Famous works His Important Cultural Property, its long inscription and his place in the old lists.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.