Kantei

Museums, Jūyō Tōken and the bicentenary

Famous works

No National Treasures: his blades in the Tokyo National Museum and in shrines, his Jūyō Tōken and his books.

On this page
  1. Documented works
  2. Jūyō Tōken
  3. In the lists
  4. Gallery

Documented works

WorkDesignationWhere it is
Katana 水心子正秀 (Suishinshi Masahide), 1808 (Bunka 5), 73.3 cm, to the order of Nakagi KoretakaNo designationTokyo National Museum (F-20272)
Katana 川部儀八郎藤原正秀 (Kawabe Gihachirō Fujiwara Masahide), 1798 (Kansei 10)No designationTokyo National Museum (F-16428)
Wakizashi 水心子正秀 (Suishinshi Masahide), 1819 (Bunsei 2), with the Nichiten sealNo designationTokyo National Museum (F-15845)
Katana signed Oite Bushū Dewa jūnin Gorō Masahide, 1777 (An’ei 6)Jūyō TōkenJapanese Sword Museum, Tokyo
Wakizashi signed Suishinshi Masahide, 1802 (Kyōwa 2)Jūyō TōkenPrivate collection
Katana of 1815 (Bunka 12) with the inscription Hyakuren seigō jōsō yōkiJūyō TōkenPrivate collection
Daishō of 1817 (Bunka 14), forged by Sadahide and hardened by MasahideJūyō TōkenPrivate collection
Katana of 1815 (Bunka 12), 70.4 cm, signed Akimoto shin Suishinshi MasahideJūyō Tōken (70th designation, 2025)Private collection
Wakizashi signed Suishinshi Masahide with a monogram, 1797 (Kansei 9)No designationYasukuni shrine, Yūshūkan (Tokyo)
Tōken bengi (刀劔弁疑), three volumes, 1817No designationTokyo National Museum (QB-2907)

Jūyō Tōken

The catalogue of the NBTHK exhibition of 2025 marks four works by Masahide as Jūyō Tōken: the katana of 1777, the wakizashi of 1802, the katana of 1815 and the daishō of 1817. The list of the 70th designation, of 2025, adds another katana of 1815.

In the lists

No National Treasure or Important Cultural Property of his is recorded in the sources consulted, and he does not appear in the wazamono lists. The Kyōhō meibutsuchō (享保名物帳), of 1719, predates him. A documentary from Nan’yō shows a sword of his offered to the shrine of Eboshiyama Hachimangū (烏帽子山八幡宮), near his birthplace.