Today we take a look at the story behind the world's most expensive samurai sword. At least the most expensive samurai sword in the world for which the price is known.
Nihonto (Japanese swords) can sometimes be traded at very high prices. Many purchases/sales take place behind closed doors and the prices are not publicised. There are only rumours of prices over one million euros. In this respect, the publication is an exception.
The sword is a so-called tachi. These are the swords used by samurai before katana became common.
History of the world's most expensive samurai sword
The samurai sword with the highest documented sales price was forged in the middle of the Kamakura period in the 13th century and thus dates from a relatively early samurai period.
It was forged in the well-known Ichimonji forging school, which was located in the province of Bizen. Bizen is one of the former centres of Japanese swordsmithing and one of the five major sword-making areas (Bizen, Mino, Sagami (Soshu), Yamashiro and Yamato).
The sword itself is considered a perfect example of a Bizen Nihonto and also of the Ichimonji school. It is not signed and is not attributed to a specific smith of the Ichimonji school.
The blade has a name derived from the Hamon pattern. This pattern is reminiscent of the magnificent feathers of a bird. The sword is called Yamatorige in Japanese, also known as Sanchomo.
It is not known who it originally belonged to. In any case, it came into the possession of the famous Sengoku daimyo Uesugi Kenshin in the middle of the 16th century.
Daimyo owned large collections of high-quality swords. However, the Yamatorige was always one of Uesugi Kenshin's favourite swords.
He later passed it on to his adopted son and later leader of the Uesugi clan, Uesugi Kagekatsu, and it was among his famous 35 blades that formed the top level of the Uesugi family fortune.
Since then, the sword has been passed down within the Uesugi family. At the end of the Second World War, it passed into the possession of a private collector and disappeared from public view for some time.
In 1977 it was handed over to the Okayama Provincial Museum for public exhibition.
Why is the price of the Yamatorige publicly known?
Why the price of this sword is publicly known has its own story. In 2018, there was an appeal for donations in the town of Setouchi. The place where the famous Yamatorige sword was forged more than 700 years ago.
The aim of the campaign was to bring the world's most expensive samurai sword back "home". Thanks to numerous donations, even more money was raised than originally planned. The sword was purchased and is now regularly exhibited in the Bizen Osafune Museum in Setouchi.
The public fundraising campaign has revealed how much money was raised to purchase the sword.
How much does the world's most expensive samurai sword cost?
The donation target to acquire the sword was set at 500,000,000 yen. This corresponds to a price of over 3 million euros! This is the documented price for the most expensive samurai sword in the world.
Are all Bizen swords as valuable as the Yamatorige?
The Yamatorige is an absolute rarity, both in terms of the quality of the work and its condition. It even survived the entire Sengoku period with very mixed power relations and countless battles and has the status of a national treasure of Japan. This combination of unique characteristics made the sword the most expensive samurai sword in the world, not just its origin.
Bizen has a long history from which many renowned blacksmiths have emerged. This is why there are many Bizen swords that are sold at a high price. However, these are still considerably cheaper than the sword described here. In our Online shop for antique samurai swords you will usually also find Bizen copies.
If you are interested in the history of the most expensive katana in the world we recommend our article on this topic.
