Yamatorige

Yamatorige (山鳥毛, "feather of a copper pheasant"), equally known as Sanchōmō by its Sino-Japanese reading, is a tachi (Japanese greatsword) forged during the middle Kamakura period (13th century). The set of the blade and its koshirae (mountings) is a National Treasure of Japan. It was wielded by Uesugi Kagekatsu (1556–1623), a powerful warlord in the Sengoku period, and had been inherited by his clan.[1]

History

Yamatorige was forged during the middle Kamakura period (13th century).[2]

According to Kanzan Sato, a nihontō (Japanese sword) appraiser and researcher, it was named so in order to honor the beauty of the tachi by likening it to the feather of a copper pheasant or the landscape of sunset mountains.[3] In addition, Suiken Fukunaga, another nihontō appraiser/researcher, cites a theory written in Sourinji Denki (『双林寺伝記』) that the name came from the landscape of a wildfire.[4] Fukunaga himself, however, remarks the wildfire theory is utterly dubious.[4]

The tachi is one of the 35 swords favored by the warlord Uesugi Kagekatsu (1556–1623),[2] an adopted son and the successor of the “God of War" Uesugi Kenshin. Later it had been inherited as one of the greatest heirlooms of the Yonezawa-Uesugi clan, the head of the Uesugi clans.[2]

On March 29, 1952, the tachi was designated a National Treasure of Japan.[5] Its koshirae (mountings) are a part of the designation as accessories to the blade.[5][6]

In 2020, Setouchi City purchased yamatorige from an individual, which was then housed in the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum. The purchase cost was about 500 million yen (About $5 million).[7]

List of name variations

The official full name for the blade and its mountings designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs is Tachi Mumei-Ichimonji (Yamatorige) Hitokuchi tsuketari Uchigatana-Goshirae (太刀 無銘一文字（山鳥毛） 一口 附 打刀拵, "An Unsigned Tachi by the Ichimonji School (Yamatorige) with Mountings for an Katana-Type Sword").[5]

Markus Sesko, a researcher on Japanese swords, calls the sword Yamatorige-Ichimonji (山鳥毛一文字).[8]

Due to both its ambiguous origin and the highly complex reading system for kanji characters, the sword has a wide variety of associated names.

  • Yamatorige[5] - kun'yomi (native reading) for the kanji characters 山鳥毛
  • Yamadorige[9] - a variant of native reading
  • Sanchōmō[10] - on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) for the same characters
  • Sanshōmō[11][12] - by characters written on a wooden plate co-inherited with this tachi[11]
  • Yamashōmō[13]

See also
  • List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts-swords)

References
  1. "太刀 無銘一文字（山鳥毛）", おかやまの文化財, 岡山県, archived from the original on 2018-12-27, retrieved 2018-12-27
  2. 文化庁 1984, p. 169.
  3. 佐藤 1964, pp. 169-170.
  4. 福永 1969, p. 140.
  5. 日本国、昭和27年10月16日文化財保護委員会告示第21号。Date accepted is March 29.
  6. 上越市 (2016-11-01), 謙信公の愛刀を、 故郷 「上越市」へ (PDF), 上越市, p. 2, archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-15
  7. "国宝備前刀の保管・PR、瀬戸内市が市長直轄部署", The Nikkei, 2020-02-17, archived from the original on 2020-03-18, retrieved 2020-03-18
  8. Sesko, Markus (2011), Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword, Books on Demand, p. 88, ISBN 978-3842366039
  9. 福永 1993, p. 235.
  10. 佐藤, 寛介; 植野, 哲也 (2013), 備前刀: 日本刀の王者, 岡山文庫, 282, 日本文教出版, p. 74, ISBN 9784821252824
  11. 岡野 1958, p. 32.
  12. 佐藤 1964, p. 169.
  13. 福永 1993, p. 231.

Bibliography
  • 岡野, 多郎松 (1958), 佐藤貫一 (ed.), 備山愛刀図譜 (in Japanese), 岡野多郎松
  • 佐藤, 寒山 (1964), "上杉景勝御手選三十五腰", 武将と名刀 (in Japanese), 人物往来社
  • 福永, 酔剣 (1993-11-20), 日本刀大百科事典 (in Japanese), 5, 雄山閣出版, ISBN 4639012020
  • 福永, 酔剣 (1969), 日本刀物語 続 (in Japanese), 雄山閣出版
  • 文化庁 (1984-12-16), 工芸品 Ⅲ, 国宝 (in Japanese), 8, 毎日新聞社
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