Help identifying who this Morimitsu is

[NotANinja]

Hi all hope you are all well!

 

I have here a blade im hoping to purchase and would like some help narrowing down the smith and also a bit more information on the koshirae too!

 

The blade:

Nagasa is 27.5" so quite long, sugata is is torizori. Shinogi-zukuri, without fumbari. Chu-kissaki. Hamon is midare, which gets a bit more subdued towards the hamachi but it's out of polish and a bit rusted (nothing serious) to see properly. The turn back on the boshi looks huge and angled but straight (see pics) - never seen one that long. Nakago has some age, looks koto and it is signed niji-mei and katana-mei "morimitsu" with seemingly an older version of the kanji for "mori" but I could be wrong. It is ubu and nakago is Bizen style.

 

Koshirae is black wooden saya with matching fuchi, kashira etc in a nice gold and black. The tsuba looks old. It is iron, quite big 11 or so cm across and is very thin, 3 or 4mm at most.

 

Thoughts so far - koto, bizen, later koshirae but with an older tsuba. Swordsmiths index show to Morimitsu signing with this kanji from Oei era but looking at existing examples the signatures don't match as they use a different kanji for "mori". Gimei perhaps?

[NotANinja]

[NotANinja]

[NotANinja]

[NotANinja]

[NotANinja]

[Rivkin]

This is koto, and possibly Bizen or Bizen like.., Something more specific is hard to say in this condition and such pictures.

[NotANinja]

On 11/20/2025 at 3:36 PM, Rivkin said:

This is koto, and possibly Bizen or Bizen like.., Something more specific is hard to say in this condition and such pictures.

Thank you, yes I was thinking koto too. I wish I had better pictures but sadly I don't own the sword. I'm not too familiar with koshirae is it in tachi fittings?

[Geraint]

Dear Rob.

 

The sword is on handachi mounts, reminiscent of a tachi but still carried in the obi as a katana.

 

All the best.

[Jussi Ekholm]

There is as Morimitsu (守光) lineage in Bizen Kozori group that extends into Muromachi. I have just few examples of Nanbokuchō/Early Muromachi items by them, as I don't record older, however I believe the lineage continued into later Muromachi.

 

Morimitsu (守光) is actually pretty rare name, when you look at Meikan or Sesko, there are only very few smiths that used the signature in general.

[NotANinja]

3 hours ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

There is as Morimitsu (守光) lineage in Bizen Kozori group that extends into Muromachi. I have just few examples of Nanbokuchō/Early Muromachi items by them, as I don't record older, however I believe the lineage continued into later Muromachi.

 

Morimitsu (守光) is actually pretty rare name, when you look at Meikan or Sesko, there are only very few smiths that used the signature in general.

Hi Jussi,

 

Thank you for your reply! That sounds very interesting, I thought it might have been rarer. I have very few reference books and each smith I could find signed the other way. What do the boshi look like on the examples you know about? This one has a long kaeri extending beyond the yokote line. 

 

Enjoyed your naginata seminar by the way!

 

Rob.

[Jussi Ekholm]

Here is a tachi by Bizen smith that is dated 1435

 

 

Here are some Muromachi ones that I found online.

Bungo katana: https://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2013/1310_1045syousai.htm

Bungo tantō: https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A021018.html

Very little info on this: https://n-kosen.com/item/3647/

Out of polish: https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/q1206573915