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Japanese swordsmiths

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Masamune
was a medieval Japanese blacksmith widely acclaimed as Japan's greatest swordsmith. He created swords and daggers, known in Japanese as tachi and tantō, in the Sōshū school. However, many of his forged tachi were made into katana by cutting the tang (nakago) in later times ("suriage"). For this reason, his only existing works are katana, tantō, and wakizashi. No exact dates are known for Masamune's life. It is generally agreed that he made most of his swords between 1288 and 1328. Some stories list his family name as , but some experts believe this is a fabrication to enhance the standing of t
Muramasa
, commonly known as , 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).
Dōtanuki
is a name of a Japanese school of swordsmiths from Higo province who produced swords in the Bizen tradition during the feudal period of Japan.
Amakuni
is the legendary swordsmith who supposedly created the first single-edged longsword (tachi) with curvature along the edge in the Yamato Province around 700 AD. He was the head of a group of swordsmiths employed by the Emperor of Japan to make weapons for his warriors. His son, Amakura, was the successor to his work. Although there are almost no modern examples of signed works by Amakuni, legend has it that the double-edged katana, Kogarasu Maru, was forged by this man. The true author of this work is not known, though the work bears similarities to works of the various Yamato schools so it is
Hikoshiro Sadamune
swordsmith (1298–1349)
Japanese swordsmithing
Asian metallic weapon creation
Akitsugu Amata
Japanese swordsmith (1927-2013)
Nagasone Kotetsu
Japanese swordsmith
Shintōgo Kunimitsu
Japanese swordsmith