Old photograph of a katana seen from both faces, on a light background.

Unknown author (1924), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

National Treasures · meibutsu

Famous works

Several blades by Sa have a name of their own and appear as meibutsu in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō; two are National Treasures with an official record, and the Japanese Wikipedia counts a third.

On this page
  1. His works with a designation
  2. The Kōsetsu Samonji
  3. The Taikō Samonji
  4. The Sayo Samonji
  5. The Yoshimoto Samonji
  6. In the treatises
  7. Gallery

His works with a designation

WorkTypeDesignationWhere it is
江雪左文字 (Kōsetsu Samonji)Tachi, 筑州住左 (Chikushū jū Sa)National Treasure since 1951; designated in 1933 under the old lawFukuyama Museum of Art (Hiroshima)
太閤左文字 (Taikō Samonji)Tantō, 左 (Sa) / 筑州住 (Chikushū jū)National Treasure since 1952; designated in 1934 under the old lawFukuyama Museum of Art
Tantō 筑州住左 (Chikushū jū Sa)TantōNational Treasure, according to the Japanese WikipediaPrivate collection
小夜左文字 (Sayo Samonji)Tantō, 左 (Sa) / 筑州住 (Chikushū jū)Important Cultural PropertyA private company in Ibaraki (Ōsaka)
義元左文字 (Yoshimoto Samonji) or 宗三左文字 (Sōza Samonji)Katana ō-suriage, unsignedImportant Cultural PropertyKenkun shrine (建勲神社, Kenkun Jinja), Kyoto, on deposit at the Kyoto National Museum
Tantō 左 (Sa) / 筑州住 (Chikushū jū)Tantō, 25.4 cm bladeImportant Cultural PropertyKyūshū National Museum
Tantō 左 (Sa) / 筑州住 (Chikushū jū)TantōImportant Cultural PropertyKyoto National Museum

The Kōsetsu Samonji

It owes its name to Itabeoka Kōsetsusai, a vassal of the Hōjō; it later passed to Tokugawa Ieyasu and to his son Yorinobu, of the Kii branch, according to the Japanese Wikipedia. Today it is at the Fukuyama Museum of Art; the city of Fukuyama has owned it since 2018, by donation.

The Taikō Samonji

It passed from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Taikō, to Tokugawa Ieyasu and to Hidetada, and then to the Inoue house of Hamamatsu, until about 1930. The Japanese Wikipedia says that the name “Taikō” dates from the Shōwa era and that it was formerly called 聚楽 (Juraku).

The Sayo Samonji

The Japanese Wikipedia records two versions of the origin of its name, one of them a revenge at the pass of 小夜の中山 (Sayo no Nakayama). They are tales, not documented history.

The Yoshimoto Samonji

According to the Japanese Wikipedia, it belonged to Miyoshi Sōsan, who gave it in 1536 to Takeda Nobutora; it passed to Imagawa Yoshimoto and, when he fell at Okehazama in 1560, to Oda Nobunaga, who had the date of that victory and his name engraved on the tang, inlaid in gold. Today it measures 65.1 cm; it measured 78.8. It burned in the great Meireki fire and was retempered.

The plate of 1932 makes both inscriptions legible: 永禄三年五月十九日 (Eiroku sannen gogatsu jūkunichi) 義元討捕刻彼所持刀 (Yoshimoto uchitoru koku kare shoji katana), “19th day of the fifth month of the third year of Eiroku: Yoshimoto struck down, the sword he carried is engraved”, and 織田尾張守信長 (Oda Owari-no-kami Nobunaga).

In the treatises

Several of his blades are meibutsu of the 享保名物帳 (Kyōhō meibutsuchō), the register of famous swords of the Kyōhō era: the Kōsetsu, the Sōza or Yoshimoto, the Sayo and others, according to the Japanese Wikipedia. His place in the cutting lists (wazamono) and in the old appraisals is not recorded in any of the sources consulted.