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{{short description|Japanese swordsmith}}
{{about|the 16th-century Japanese swordsmith|the British DJ and record producer|Mura Masa|other uses|Muramasa (disambiguation)}}

{{nihongo|'''Muramasa'''|村正||born before 1501}}, commonly known as {{nihongo|'''Sengo Muramasa'''|千子村正}}, was a famous [[swordsmith]] who founded the Muramasa school and lived during the [[Muromachi period]] (14th to 16th centuries) in Kuwana, [[Ise Province]], Japan (current [[Kuwana, Mie]]).<ref name="fukunaga-5-166-167">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, pp. 166–167.</ref>

In spite of their original reputation as fine blades favored by the [[shōgun]] [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] and his vassals, the [[katana]] swords made by Muramasa gradually became a symbol of the anti-[[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] movement. Furthermore, in lore and popular culture from the 18th century, the swords have been regarded as {{nihongo|''yōtō''|妖刀||"wicked katana"}}.

== Work ==
=== Style ===
Much like his unique reputation, Muramasa is known for some fairly unusual features in his work. These attributes are often called by terms prefixed with "Muramasa".
* {{nihongo|''Muramasa-ba''|村正刃||"Muramasa-like edge"}}—The first particular characteristic of his is the frequent use of a wave-shaped [[hamon (swordsmithing)|hamon]]. The {{Transliteration|ja|hamon}} of Muramasa is categorized as {{Transliteration|ja|gunome-midare}}, that is, it forms randomized wave-like shapes. In particular, Muramasa's {{Transliteration|ja|gunome-midare}} has very long, shallow valleys between a cluster of {{Transliteration|ja|gunome}} shapes.<ref name="fukunaga-5-169" /> Furthermore, the front pattern and the back one often coincide well.<ref name="fukunaga-5-169" /> In regards to ''hataraki'', or metallurgical patterns created through the differential heating and quenching process, his hamon are extremely clear cut with defined nioi. Muramasa's hamon are also known to be near exact symmetrical duplicates of one another, said to be extremely intricate and difficult in the process of the hamon creation process.
* {{nihongo|''Muramasa-nakago''|村正中心||"Muramasa-like tang"}}—The other easily identifiable feature one will see on Muramasa blades is the fish-belly (tanagobara) shape of the [[Tang (tools)|nakago]].<ref>[http://www.muramasa.us/features.html] www.Muramasa.us/features</ref><ref name="fukunaga-5-169" /> {{nihongo|Hayashi Shigehide|林重秀}} in the 19th century often simulated this style.<ref name="fukunaga-5-169" />

=== Notable works ===
Although the school of Muramasa is extremely famous in popular culture, none of their swords are designated as a [[National Treasure (Japan)|National Treasure]] or an [[Important Cultural Property (Japan)|Important Cultural Property]].
[[File:Nabeshima Katsushige Portrait.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Nabeshima Katsushige]]
[[File:Katana Muramasa.JPG|400px|thumb|Muramasa (勢州桑名住村正) from the [[Tokyo National Museum]]]]
[[File:An Ō-sasaho yari, the copy of Tonbogiri.JPG|thumb|upright|Replica of the Tonbokiri, made in 1847, in the [[Tokyo National Museum]]]]
{{nihongo|'''Myōhō Muramasa'''|妙法村正||"Muramasa of [[Lotus Sutra|the Sublime Dharma]]"}} is the only sword officially designated as an ''{{interlanguage link|Important Artwork|ja|重要美術品}}''.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa">Sato, 1990. pp. 209-212.</ref>
[[Katana]], length 66.4&nbsp;cm, curvature 1.5&nbsp;cm, bottom width 2.8&nbsp;cm, {{Transliteration|ja|shinogi-zukuri}}, {{Transliteration|ja|iori-mune}}, and {{Transliteration|ja|chū-kissaki nobi}} <ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/> (see also [[Glossary of Japanese swords]]).
The front side contains a sign of Muramasa and a mantra sign {{nihongo|''myōhō renge kyō''|妙法蓮華経}} (a mantra from [[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō]] or the [[Lotus Sutra]] of [[Nichiren Buddhism]]).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
The back side contains a year sign 永正十年葵酉十月十三日 (13th day of the 10th month of [[Eishō (Muromachi period)|Eishō]] 10, that is, 10 November 1513).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/> It is highly probable that the date was chosen because the high priest [[Nichiren]] died on the 13th day of the 10th month of [[Kōan (Kamakura period)|Kōan]] 5 (1282).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
Both sides contain beautiful engravings of Kurikara ([[Acala|Fudō Myō-ō]]'s mythological sword empowered by a burning dragon).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
The style of the engravings is similar to those of the swordsmith Heianjō Nagayoshi, so some scholars suggest Muramasa studied under Nagayoshi.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
It is also silver-damascened with characters {{nihongo|Nabeshin|鍋信}}, which suggests that the sword was once in possession of [[Nabeshima Katsushige]] (1580–1657), the first [[daimyō]] lord of [[Saga Domain]].<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
Later, this sword was given to Katsushige's son [[Nabeshima Motoshige]], the first lord of [[Ogi Domain]], and has been inherited by his successors.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>

Muramasa's students made excellent weapons too. Fujiwara Masazane, a disciple of Muramasa, forged '''[[Tonbokiri]]''',<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" /> one of the [[Three Great Spears of Japan]].
Masazane also forged a sword called {{nihongo|'''Inoshishi-giri'''|猪切||"boar-slayer"}} whose name came from a legend that [[Sakai Tadatsugu]] killed a wild boar with this sword when accompanying Ieyasu in hunting.<ref name="fukunaga-1-107-108">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 1, pp. 107–108.</ref>

== In history ==
=== Origin ===
The exact origin of the Muramasa school is unknown.
The oldest extant sword equipped with both a name sign Muramasa and a date sign shows the year [[Bunki]] 1 (1501).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa" /><ref name="fukunaga-5-167" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sho-shin.com/tokai2.htm|title=ISE - SENGO MURAMASA School|website=www.sho-shin.com}}</ref>
Scholars, however, assert several swords signed with Muramasa (but without year signs) are slightly older than 1501 in light of their styles.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa" /><ref name="fukunaga-5-167" />
It is generally thought that the school of Muramasa spanned at least three generations.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
It is hardly clear when the school disappeared, but some Muramasa swords contain the year sign [[Kanbun (era)|Kanbun]] (1661–1673).<ref name="fukunaga-5-167" />

Lores in the late Muromachi period (early 16th century–1573) stated that Muramasa was a student of [[Masamune]] (c. 1300), the greatest swordsmith in Japan's history, and the [[Hon'ami family]] (family dynasty of swordpolishers and sword connoisseurs) commented that his [[floruit]] was the [[Jōji]] era (1362–1368).<ref name="fukunaga-5-166" /> 
Scholars from the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573–1600) to modern days, however, have dismissed the relationship of Masamune and Muramasa as fantasy because all of extant Muramasa swords are too new to support this theory.<ref name="fukunaga-5-166">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 166.</ref>
Another theory states that Muramasa  was a student of Heianjō Nagayoshi, a prominent [[Kyoto]] swordsmith known for spears and engravings.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shibuiswords.com/muramasa.htm|title=Muramasa|website=www.shibuiswords.com|language=en|access-date=2017-07-08}}</ref>
The school of {{nihongo|Masashige|正重}}, a notable branch of the Muramasa school, records Masashige  died in 1456, so Muramasa  was active before 1456 if we believe the record.<ref name="fukunaga-5-167" />

{{nihongo|'''Sengo'''|千子}}, the epithet of Muramasa, is also covered with myths.
A common belief states Muramasa was born in a place called Sengo, but there is no such a place near Kuwana in reality.<ref name="fukunaga-5-167">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 167.</ref>
Another popular legend says the mother of Muramasa  worshipped the [[bodhisattva]] [[Senju Kannon]] and thus he was called Sengo, a shortened form of {{nihongo|Senju no ko|千手の子||"son of Senju"}}.<ref name="fukunaga-5-167" />

Kanzan Sato claims that the starting year of Muramasa  was [[Entoku]] and [[Meiō]] (1489–1501), that of Muramasa was [[Tenbun]] (1532–1539), and that of Muramasa  was [[Tenshō (Momoyama period)|Tenshō]] (1573–1591).<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa" />
On the other hand, Suiken Fukunaga considers the floruit of Muramasa  was around [[Shōchō]] (1428–1429) and the 1501 sword was forged by Muramasa .<ref name="fukunaga-5-167" />

=== Relationship to the Tokugawa dynasty ===
Because of their exquisite sharpness, Muramasa swords were favored especially by the samurai of [[Mikawa Province|Mikawa]] (led by [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], the founder of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], and his ancestors).<ref name="fukunaga-5-168">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 168.</ref><ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
Naturally, when a misfortune happens in the Tokugawa clan, it is often related to Muramasa, definitely not because they are "cursed," but simply because most Mikawa samurai used these swords.<ref name="nishinippon-20131121">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 2013-11-21 |title=「尾張徳川家の至宝」展 妖刀 伝説から史実へ |trans-title= An Exhibition of the Great Treasures of the Owari-Tokugawa Family: Cursed Sword—From Legend to History |url=http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/feature/kyuhaku/article/53703 |language= Japanese |work= [[Nishinippon Shimbun]] |access-date= 2018-08-22}} 
</ref>
[[Matsudaira Kiyoyasu]], a grandfather of Ieyasu, was mistakenly killed by his own vassal Abe Masatoyo with a Muramasa.<ref name="fukunaga-5-168" />
Ieyasu's father [[Matsudaira Hirotada]] was also stabbed with a Muramasa by Iwamatsu Hachiya, who lost his mind by excessive drinking.<ref name="fukunaga-5-168" />
When Ieyasu's first son [[Matsudaira Nobuyasu]] was forced to commit suicide (''[[seppuku]]''), his beheader (''[[kaishakunin]]'') Amagata Michitsuna used a Muramasa.<ref name="fukunaga-5-168" />

In spite of these unfortunate incidents, Tokugawa Ieyasu and his generation seemed to greatly appreciate Muramasa weapons.<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
Ieyasu himself owned two swords forged by Muramasa and left them to his family; as of 2013, the [[Owari-Tokugawa family]] still holds one of the two as an heirloom.<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
[[Honda Tadakatsu]], one of [[Shitennō (Tokugawa clan)|the Four Greatest Generals under Ieyasu]], wielded [[Tonbogiri]], a legendary spear forged by Fujiwara Masazane, who studied under the Muramasa school.<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
[[Sakai Tadatsugu]], another of the Four, wielded Inoshishi-giri, a sword forged by Masazane.<ref name="fukunaga-1-107-108" />

Later generations in the shogunate, however, gradually came to think of Muramasa as sinister items.
[[Arai Hakuseki]], the official [[scholar-bureaucrat]] of the shogunate, commented "Muramasa is associated with not a few sinister events."<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
Even ''{{interlanguage link|Tokugawa Jikki|ja|徳川実紀}}'' (1849), the official history book published from the shogunate, cites {{nihongo|''Kashiwazaki Monogatari''|柏崎物語||1787}}, which tells a legend that Ieyasu regarded Muramasa as cursed items and banned them from his family,<ref>『徳川実紀』東照宮御実紀附録巻三 ([http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/772965], p. 162)</ref> although it is clearly a fabricated story considering the heirloom of the Owari-Tokugawa family.

In the [[Bakumatsu]] period (1853–1868), Muramasa was somehow considered to be a curse bringer against the shogunate, and thus [[shishi (organization)|shishi]] (anti-Tokugawa activists) wished to acquire Muramasa blades.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>
Even though the school of Muramasa does not have an exalted or prestigious status to be used by the imperial family in ordinary times, a Muramasa was wielded by [[Prince Arisugawa Taruhito]], the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army against the Tokugawa shogunate during the [[Boshin War]] (1868–1869).<ref name="nishinippon-20131121" />
To satisfy growing demand, forgeries of Muramasa blades were also often made in this period.<ref name="sato-myoho-muramasa"/>

== Cultural significance ==
[[File:Sano Jirozaemon Murdering a Courtesan LACMA M.84.31.539a-b.jpg|thumb|right|''A Tale of Sano Jirōzaemon'', [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]], 1886. People rumored that Jirōzaemon murdered his lover with a cursed sword. The kabuki drama ''{{Transliteration|ja|Kago-tsurube Sato-no-Eizame|italic=unset}}'' (1888) claimed that his sword was forged by Muramasa.]]

In popular culture, Muramasa swords have been often depicted as cursed swords with demonic powers. Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook said that Muramasa "was a most skillful smith but a violent and ill-balanced mind verging on madness, that was supposed to have passed into his blades. They were popularly believed to hunger for blood and to impel their warrior to commit murder or suicide."<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Ratti
  | first = Oscar and Adele Westbrook
  | title = Secrets of the Samurai: The Martial Arts of Feudal Japan
  | publisher = Tuttle Publishing
  | year = 1991
  | page = 263
  | isbn = 978-0-8048-1684-7 }}</ref>
It has also been told that once drawn, a Muramasa blade has to draw blood before it can be returned to its [[scabbard]], even to the point of forcing its wielder to wound himself or commit suicide.<ref name="glosarms">{{cite book
  | last = Stone
  | first = George Cameron
  | authorlink = George Cameron Stone
  | title = [[A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times]]
  | publisher = Dover Publications, Inc.
  | year = 1999
  | page = 460
  | isbn = 978-0-486-40726-5 }}</ref>  
Thus, it is thought of as a demonic cursed blade that creates bloodlust in those who wield it.
 
These images date back to
[[kabuki]] dramas in the 18–19th century such as
{{nihongo|''Katakiuchi Tenga Jaya Mura''|敵討天下茶屋聚}} (1781),
''{{interlanguage link|Hachiman Matsuri Yomiya no Nigiwai|ja|八幡祭小望月賑}}'' (1860),
{{nihongo|''Konoma no Hoshi Hakone no Shikabue''|木間星箱根鹿笛}} (1880),
and ''{{interlanguage link|Kago-tsurube Sato-no-Eizame''|ja|籠釣瓶花街酔醒}}'' (1888).<ref name="fukunaga-5-169">Fukunaga, 1993. vol. 5, p. 169.</ref>

When {{interlanguage link|Matsudaira Geki|ja|松平外記}} was driven mad because of [[power harassment]] from his superiors and killed them in [[Edo Castle]] in the 6th year of [[Bunsei]] (1823), townspeople rumored that Geki used a Muramasa, although actually the sword had no sign and there was no evidence to support the rumor.<ref name="fukunaga-5-169" />
This incident shows how great the influence of kabuki dramas upon common people was.<ref name="fukunaga-5-169" />

== See also ==
* [[Masamune]]
* [[Murasame (disambiguation)|Murasame]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Sato, Kanzan (1990) (in Japanese) {{Nihongo|''New Selection of 100 Noteworthy Japanese Swords''|新・日本名刀100選|Shin Nihon Meitō Hyakusen}}. Akita Shoten. {{ISBN|4-253-90009-7}}.
* Fukunaga, Suiken (1993) (in Japanese) {{Nihongo|''Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords''|日本刀大百科事典|Nihontō Daihyakka Jiten}}. Yūzankaku. {{ISBN|4-639-01202-0}}.

[[Category:Japanese swordsmiths]]
[[Category:16th-century Japanese people]]