Yamatorige @ Bizen Osafune Sword Museum

[MassiveMoonHeh]

The Yamatorige is coming out of storage for 2 very short viewing periods in 2026.

 

Both times it will be on display at the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum.

 

Click here for more information.

 

It went on display on Friday, 20th March and will be on display until the 29th March but will come back again at the end of April.

 

They have set it up with a stand that allows you to view it from both sides - which I think is brillaint!

 

Expect big crowds as they have linked up with Touken Ranbu to promote the event.

 

Images from @yoimachi95, @gasmask0821 & @kentaro9614 on X.

 

If you happen to go... please drop some photos here.

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, thanks for this, Brett. I missed this, your original post.

Was there at Osafune Sword Museum yesterday but busy with other things so did not go inside to see the Sanchomo this time around. Maybe later this week.

[Bugyotsuji]

Notice the Touken Ranbu figure has a horizontal 'one' on his lapel badge and belt buckle.

 

 

 

 

 

[MassiveMoonHeh]

2 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Notice the Touken Ranbu figure has a horizontal 'one' on his lapel badge and belt buckle.

Ichi - Those Touken Ranbu guys miss nothing. They apparently live what they create, recently I read an article that stated that Touken Ranbu also purchase swords and is building a rather decent collection.

[eternal_newbie]

41 minutes ago, MassiveMoonHeh said:

Touken Ranbu also purchase swords and is building a rather decent collection.

 

After reading some of the anecdotes here about how underfunded and understaffed museums treat their swords, I think that as long as the trend has legs, this is a good thing. People will want to see these and they will expect (and pay) for them to be maintained and presented properly.

[Sebuh]

Is there a reason why Yamatorige is not always on display? I'm not familiar with the museum and their practices, but it is quite the popular sword. Would expect it to always be around regardless of display swaps?

[Bugyotsuji]

12 minutes ago, Sebuh said:

Is there a reason why Yamatorige is not always on display? I'm not familiar with the museum and their practices, but it is quite the popular sword. Would expect it to always be around regardless of display swaps?

Yes, there is a series of reasons (security, preservation etc.) why the curators limit it to short displays during special exhibitions, etc.
AI just gave me a whole ream of them! 
*Someone mentioned to me six weeks a year, but I am not sure if that includes the periods when it is out on loan.

[MassiveMoonHeh]

28 minutes ago, Sebuh said:

Is there a reason why Yamatorige is not always on display? I'm not familiar with the museum and their practices, but it is quite the popular sword. Would expect it to always be around regardless of display swaps?

Most good sword curators practice safe sword practice that comes down to the theory that sword degrade and therefore swords should not be exposed to the elements for prolonged periods so as to protect it for future generations. This is pretty normal practice for sword presevation.

 

The Yamatorige however is not a normal sword... It is a $3 million mega famous and possibly the most beautiful sword in Japan and as such there is heightened cautiousness not only for preservation but to also protect it. When a blade is that valuable unless you have some insane security which costs money (and is generally not common practice for most Japanese Museums) you cannot display the expensive stuff for too long as this additional security costs the museum significantly more to put and keep in place than normal displays and exhibitions. Hence short exhibitions where they can roll in the crowds and balance bang for buck without compromising security.

[Sebuh]

Got it guys, thank you!

 

was expecting the Japanese to have some sort of ultra-anti decay formula for swords, oops! especially since I was of the belief most museums did not rotate swords often.

 

Edited March 23 by Sebuh

[Lewis B]

18 hours ago, MassiveMoonHeh said:

 

 

The Yamatorige however is not a normal sword... It is a $3 million mega famous and possibly the most beautiful sword in Japan

When the Yamatorige was purchased by Setouchi City the US$ was much weaker. 500mil JPY was around $5mil (just over $3.1mil based on todays FX) making it a far better headline.

 

Speaking of visually impressive swords, do any of these big name sword museums in Japan use the macro observation system successfully employed by the Samurai Museum in Berlin? There is nothing like viewing these blades under a macro lens (like observing pond water under a microscope). 

Edited March 24 by Lewis B

[MassiveMoonHeh]

54 minutes ago, Lewis B said:

Speaking of visually impressive swords, do any of these big name sword museums in Japan use the macro observation system successfully employed by the Samurai Museum in Berlin? There is nothing like viewing these blades under a macro lens (like observing pond water under a microscope). 

Now that sounds like something I would love to see.

[Lewis B]

When I visited a year ago they had an extraordinarily healthy Rai Kunimitsu sword in the display booth. A couple weeks later I saw it in hand as part of a special NBTHK-EB event at the Museums research centre and took this video. It had marumune and Hon'ami Kochu Kinzoganmei

 

 

 

Edited March 24 by Lewis B

[MassiveMoonHeh]

Wow! You were not kidding that blade looks brand new! What a privilege.

[MassiveMoonHeh]

Lots and lots of photos of the Yamatorige starting to appear across the interwebs.

 

Actually a lot of fun reading the comments and seeing the excitement in the people posting and responding to the pictures.

[Lewis B]

Thanks for the photos. That blade has had a tough life. A chunk out of the edge and a nakago that is shall we say...interesting. Certainly not something I've seen on another blade from the era. 

 

Unfortunately Shiotsuna, the local photography GOAT can't travel to record these blades. Such a shame. 

Edited March 24 by Lewis B

[Gakusee]

2 hours ago, Lewis B said:

Thanks for the photos. That blade has had a tough life. A chunk out of the edge and a nakago that is shall we say...interesting. Certainly not something I've seen on another blade from the era. 

 

Unfortunately Shiotsuna, the local photography GOAT can't travel to record these blades. Such a shame. 

 

Well… Mona Lisa has a kind of …. Shall we say… interesting smile. 
And the colours are a bit faded. 
Ah, also there are a few other images underneath the top layer. 
But…

It is Mona Lisa. 

[Lukrez]

The Sanchōmō, with its wild juka-chōji-ba (right?), seems visually striking, combining contradictory qualities: hade – almost tipping into kitsch –, hanayaka slowly unfolding, and shibui, maturing beauty. I’ll leave the finer interpretation to the more experienced forum members.

Fire, a mountain bird, etc. – a legendary sword in the literal sense,offering different aesthetic paths depending on the viewer’s perspective and depth of understanding.

To my knowledge, very little is firmly known about it. As is often the case, sources from that era are fragmentary and contradictory, making clear attribution difficult. That, however, has never lessened its fascination.

 

@lewis: I’m not quite sure what exactly caught your eye about the nakago shape. On the basic development of form, I’ve heard a range of theories, some fairly wild. I’ll mention one here (not even the most out-there), even if it might permanently change how some people see things

 

Looking at the development of the Japanese sword from a cross-cultural, “evolutionary” perspective, one repeatedly encounters archaic meanings and symbolism – including phallic cults, which played roles in many early cultures (in the Orient broadly, e.g., Mesopotamia or the Vedas). The shift from straight chokutō to the curved forms of the Heian period, such as the kenukigata-tachi, creates a very distinctive silhouette. When worn edge-down in the classical manner, the blade curves strongly upward – and, pointedly put, this overall shape does resemble an erect male organ. In this reading, the curvature is not just functional but symbolically charged – an expression of life force, vitality, and potency.

Japanese Hieizan monk warrior outfit from the Heian period (794-1185), photographed in 1916

Interestingly, the effect may have long depended not only on the blade itself, but on the interplay with the koshirae, the way it was worn, and body posture. Only when worn does the “complete image” emerge. The sword becomes less an isolated object than part of a larger symbolic ensemble – a  status symbol of the warrior and aristocratic class.

Then there are also some intriguing linguistic parallels: the nakago  – the “inner” part of the blade – shares the same character as in inkei (“hidden root”), a term for the penis. Whether coincidence or deeper symbolic thinking, of course, cannot be proven, but the parallel has at least been explored theoretically.

And it wouldn’t be the first time such ideas – consciously or unconsciously – shaped design choices: life force, fertility, and energy as guiding aesthetic principles.

 

There are plenty more theories where this one came from ;)

 

 

[eternal_newbie]

18 hours ago, Gakusee said:

But…

It is Mona Lisa. 

 

The classic quote from a Thomas Buttweiler essay:

 

There are perhaps 500 Ko-Bizen swords left in existence today. About 200 of these have been awarded Juyo Token status or higher [ca. 1980]. The vast majority of even these recognized examples are in greatly deteriorated condition. Nearly all of these have been polished down to a point where they retain only a hint of their former elegance. In many cases, the Boshi is incomplete or missing altogether. Many of the remaining blades have been burned or re-tempered. Even so, the desirability of such blades remains undiminished. The words of one elderly Japanese connoisseur while examining a blade with all of the above faults, are classic. He held the blade at arms length for a long time and turned, smiled, and said, “But, it's Ko-Bizen.”

[Lukrez]

3 hours ago, eternal_newbie said:

 

The classic quote from a Thomas Buttweiler essay:

 

There are perhaps 500 Ko-Bizen swords left in existence today. About 200 of these have been awarded Juyo Token status or higher [ca. 1980]. The vast majority of even these recognized examples are in greatly deteriorated condition. Nearly all of these have been polished down to a point where they retain only a hint of their former elegance. In many cases, the Boshi is incomplete or missing altogether. Many of the remaining blades have been burned or re-tempered. Even so, the desirability of such blades remains undiminished. The words of one elderly Japanese connoisseur while examining a blade with all of the above faults, are classic. He held the blade at arms length for a long time and turned, smiled, and said, “But, it's Ko-Bizen.”

I once caught a similar remark from Kurokawa-san that stuck with me: the more you study swords, the more you start to appreciate the older blades. By the time your “education” is complete, you naturally find yourself drawn to Ko-Bizen.

 

... But that’s not the whole story. If you look closer, things get more fascinating. The very best Ko-Bizen, when observed carefully, can almost look like Soshu—just a stone’s throw from the  Masamune or Sadamune...

[Gakusee]

3 hours ago, Lukrez said:

I once caught a similar remark from Kurokawa-san that stuck with me: the more you study swords, the more you start to appreciate the older blades. By the time your “education” is complete, you naturally find yourself drawn to Ko-Bizen.

 

... But that’s not the whole story. If you look closer, things get more fascinating. The very best Ko-Bizen, when observed carefully, can almost look like Soshu—just a stone’s throw from the  Masamune or Sadamune...

Well, it is the other way around. Soshu was inspired by Ko-Bizen and Ko-Hoki….

So Soshu occasionally looks like KoBizen and KoHoki. 

 

When I phrased my pseudo haiku I had exactly that TB quote in mind… Well done to Rohan for following the clues! 
 

In fact, for those in Japan currently or passing through, if you visit the NBTHK JuBi exhibition, there is a Norishige which looks like a Ko-Bizen blade (except that the jamón shape in the upper third stabilises similarly to an Osafune hamon). Even the label in the glass window talks about how Norishige was inspired by KoBizen when making that blade. 

[Lukrez]

57 minutes ago, Gakusee said:

Well, it is the other way around. Soshu was inspired by Ko-Bizen and Ko-Hoki….

So Soshu occasionally looks like KoBizen and KoHoki. 

 

When I phrased my pseudo haiku I had exactly that TB quote in mind… Well done to Rohan for following the clues! 
 

In fact, for those in Japan currently or passing through, if you visit the NBTHK JuBi exhibition, there is a Norishige which looks like a Ko-Bizen blade (except that the jamón shape in the upper third stabilises similarly to an Osafune hamon). Even the label in the glass window talks about how Norishige was inspired by KoBizen when making that blade. 

Michael, funny—now that I’ve seen your title image in connection with Ko-Bizen, it immediately rang a bell. I remembered where I must have come across that information before. not a photographic memory, more that I had a few things tucked away that just happened to resurface.

 

This forum is full of hidden gems, and there’s a great deal to learn here ;).

 

Edited March 25 by Lukrez

[MassiveMoonHeh]

Such is the demand to see the Yamatorige that the Museum has lifted its capacity restrictions for the first time ever, meaning that they now have 3x as many people seeing the sword at the same time.

 

This is a new normal.

 

 You can read more here.

[Bugyotsuji]

One of our NBTHK members is a Bizen potter and after much effort he eventually succeeded in making a full-sized version in fired clay.

 

Another member creates detailed exact-scale copies in wood, down to the nick in the blade edge. These are not cheap but there is a waiting list for his work, the Sanchōmō and other famous blades. Even the Mei are faithfully chiselled in.

[Bugyotsuji]

Here’s a pic or two I took about 7 years ago, before the owner sold it.

 

 

The nick

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

They ask you to place a sticker against which sword you liked best.

[eternal_newbie]

54 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

They ask you to place a sticker against which sword you liked best.

 

I think Kanemitsu, like Kiyomaro, is one of those smiths whose sugata and hamon shape alone is usually so eye-catching that it even enchants people who don't know enough about swords to tell you why a Masamune is superior to a shinsakuto.

 

Anecdotally, for partners/family being "dragged" to one of these exhibitions, Kiyomaro is the undisputed king of "okay, I have to admit that looks pretty cool"

[MassiveMoonHeh]

1 hour ago, Bugyotsuji said:

They ask you to place a sticker against which sword you liked best.

No guess who is winning. 🤣

[MassiveMoonHeh]

1 hour ago, Bugyotsuji said:

They ask you to place a sticker against which sword you liked best.

Are you able to share any images or videos of the two Yoshifusa blades? They are always a treat to see.

[Bugyotsuji]

On 3/28/2026 at 7:10 PM, MassiveMoonHeh said:

Are you able to share any images or videos of the two Yoshifusa blades? They are always a treat to see.

Actually I particularly like Yoshifusa too. Today sadly I was with people and did not take many photos, *although I do have some Yoshifusa pics somewhere from earlier exhibitions there.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

The dark side of the moon.