The Sword That Took Its Name From a Killing
The name Heshikiri Hasebe records a death. According to records kept by the Kuroda family, the sword once belonged to the warlord Oda Nobunaga, and one day a tea attendant named Kannai gave offense and bolted, wedging himself beneath a serving shelf. Nobunaga slid the blade into the narrow gap and pushed down, shearing through the man and the shelf without a swing. The word heshikiri, a cut made by pressing rather than slashing, fixed itself to the blade and has stayed there ever since.
The sword dates to the Nanboku-chō period of the fourteenth century and is attributed to Hasebe Kunishige, a smith who worked in Yamashiro province, in what is now southern Kyoto. It is owned by the city of Fukuoka and kept at the Fukuoka City Museum, on the reclaimed waterfront facing Hakata Bay. The cutting edge runs 64.8 centimeters, the body is broad, the curve shallow at one centimeter, and the point unusually large for its length.
An Appraisal Written in Gold
What reads today as a katana began as something heavier. The blade was once an ō-tachi, a long sword slung edge-down from the belt, and later centuries shortened it to the form on display. That reworking cut away the original signature, so the maker's name comes not from the smith but from a verdict. Honami Kōtoku (1554-1619), the foremost sword connoisseur of his day, judged the blade to be Kunishige's work and set that judgment into the tang in gold inlay: on one face "Hasebe Kunishige" beside his own cipher, on the other "Kuroda Chikuzen-no-kami," the official title of the Fukuoka lord Kuroda Nagamasa.
Kunishige is usually listed among the so-called Ten Disciples of Masamune, the celebrated Kamakura master, though that grouping is a later tradition and the teacher-pupil links within it are debated. He trained in the Sōshū style and is counted the founder of the Hasebe school. The blade was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1936 and raised to National Treasure on March 31, 1953. Among surviving Hasebe works, signed and unsigned alike, it is held to be the finest.
What to Look For at the Glass
Step close and the temper pattern registers first. Instead of keeping the hardened steel to the edge, the smith scattered it across the whole surface in a style called hitatsura, so that islands of bright crystalline grain drift up over the body of the blade. The forging shows a fine ko-itame grain dusted with ji-nie, minute particles of hardened steel that catch the light as you shift your angle. A single straight groove, the bōhi, runs the length of the blade and carries on down into the tang.
The tang itself repays a second glance. Greatly shortened, it carries four peg holes, the residue of remountings across six centuries. The blade is paired with an early nineteenth-century mounting of black-lacquered ray skin studded with raised hailstone grains, made in the time of the tenth Fukuoka lord and itself an Important Cultural Property.
Around the Museum
The Fukuoka City Museum stands in Seaside Momochi, a planned waterfront quarter laid out in the late 1980s, a short walk from the 234-meter Fukuoka Tower. The museum is most famous for the gold seal of the King of Na, a first-century diplomatic gift from Han China, but for sword visitors the draw is the gallery of Kuroda family treasures.
Heshikiri Hasebe appears only at certain times of year, by long custom around the New Year, and it shares its case with another Kuroda National Treasure, the tachi Nikkō Ichimonji, so the two are rarely shown together. Anyone travelling specifically to see it should check the museum's exhibition calendar first. One related piece stays on view year-round: the great spear Nihongō, counted among the three famous spears of Japan and, by legend, won in a drinking contest. Admission to the permanent galleries is modest, and the same ticket covers the Kuroda treasures during their display periods.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukuoka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sword (Gold Inlay Signature Hasebe Kunishigemoto Akao
- [ Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine & Hakata Food Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I see Heshikiri Hasebe whenever I visit?
- No. It goes on display only during limited periods, traditionally around January, and it shares a case with the tachi Nikkō Ichimonji, so the two are usually not shown at once. Check the museum's schedule before you go.
- Why is it called "Heshikiri"?
- The name comes from a story in which Oda Nobunaga pressed the blade beneath a serving shelf to cut down a tea attendant hiding there. Heshikiri means roughly "pressing cut," a cut made by pushing rather than swinging.
- Who made the sword, and how do we know?
- It is attributed to Hasebe Kunishige of the fourteenth century. Because the original signature was lost when the blade was shortened, the attribution rests on an appraisal by Honami Kōtoku, inlaid in gold on the tang around 1600.
- How did a Kyoto sword end up in Fukuoka?
- It passed from Oda Nobunaga to the Kuroda family, whose lords ruled the Fukuoka domain throughout the Edo period. The Kuroda collection was later given to the city of Fukuoka, which is why the museum holds it today.
- Is photography allowed?
- Rules vary with each display, and a National Treasure may be treated differently from general exhibits. Confirm the current photography policy at the museum on the day of your visit.
Basic Information
| Name | Katana, known as Heshikiri Hasebe (designated name: Sword, gold-inlaid inscription Hasebe Kunishige Hon'a kaō / Kuroda Chikuzen-no-kami) |
|---|---|
| Maker | Attributed to Hasebe Kunishige |
| Period | Nanboku-chō period (14th century) |
| Designation | National Treasure (craft); Important Cultural Property 1936, National Treasure March 31, 1953 |
| Dimensions | Blade length 64.8 cm; curvature 1.0 cm; base width 3.0 cm; tip width 2.5 cm |
| Count | One (1 piece) |
| Owner | City of Fukuoka |
| Location | Fukuoka City Museum, 3-1-1 Momochihama, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka |
| Viewing | Displayed only during limited periods; confirm the schedule on the museum's official site |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/385
- Fukuoka City Museum (official site)
- https://museum.city.fukuoka.jp/
- Touken World: Heshikiri Hasebe
- https://www.touken-world.jp/search-noted-sword/saneiketsu-meito/54641/
- Touken World: Hasebe Kunishige
- https://www.touken-world.jp/sword-artisan-directory/hasebe-kunishige/
Last verified: 2026.06.13