A Hatakeda Mitsumori Katana (畠田光守)

Hatakeda Mitsumori was one of the great masters of the Kamakura period, working from Hatakeda village in Bizen province and counted among the finest smiths of his era. The Hatakeda school was a leading force in Bizen swordsmanship during the late Kamakura period, and Mitsumori – ranked jojo-saku, highly superior, by Fujishiro – was its most celebrated name. Swords by Mitsumori were prized by daimyo families across the centuries, including the Horita and Akimoto clans, and surviving examples are exceptionally rare.

This graceful katana displays everything one expects of a jojo-saku Kamakura blade: a dense ko-itame and mokume-hada (circular burl grain) packed with shining ji-nie and plentiful chikei, and a brilliant gunome choji midare hamon with kawazu-no-ko-choji – the distinctive frog-spawn shaped choji – accompanied by vivid midare utsuri that lights up the ji. Sunagashi, tobiyaki, and kinsuji add further depth to an already rich blade. The Juyo Token certificate, issued at the 52nd session, confirms the attribution with confidence, and the sayagaki by Tanobe sensei reinforces it in full. Originally a long tachi, the blade has been shortened (o-suriage mumei) at some point in its long life – a common fate for Kamakura-period tachi passed across generations.

The sword comes in a sophisticated late Edo-period koshirae with samurai armour elements running through the fittings. The tsuba is a polished iron piece attributed to Kawaharu Tomochika of the Choshu school, depicting the celebrated yatsuhashi (eight bridges) motif with Japanese irises. The fuchi-kashira are attributed to the Yoshioka school, depicting a riding whip with arrow and quiver – a fine evocation of mounted samurai life. A kozuka (utility knife) with horse design speaks to a time when this sword was carried on horseback.