Sword (engraved as “Made by Bizen-no-Kuni Osafune Norimitsu, August 1464”)

This sword was created in 1464 by Norimitsu, an Osafune school swordsmith active during the Muromachi period. The Osafune school was a school of swordsmiths who resided in Osafune, Bizen Province (now Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture) and were famously active in the Kamakura period. This Norimitsu was Normitsu II. The child of a swordsmith named Sukeuemon, who called himself Norimitsu, his original name is said to have been Gorozaemon. The sword is notable for its striking “midareba” wavy temper pattern.