WHEN THE WORDS “JAPANESE sword” are uttered, most people think of the katana, the quintessential, single-edged, curved sword which claims an undeniable place in popular culture. Yet, the Japanese sword (nihontō) comes in many different shapes and sizes. This article focuses on a rarely used shape of Japanese swords – the kogarasumaru-zukuri.

The Kogarasumaru (the Little Crow) is a blade forged in the ninth century that became famous as an heirloom of the Taira family, the most powerful warrior family of twelfth-century Japan, who ruled the country almost on their own until they were brought down in the Gempei War of 1180–85. After their downfall very few blades were fashioned in the likeness of the Kogarasumaru. The aim of this paper is to assess the reasons for why this was the case. Taking the actual form of the Kogarasumaru as a starting point, this paper addresses the question from technical, martial and symbolic angles to find a reason for the rare appearance of this kind of blade.

The sword functions as a powerful symbol in Japanese society. Ogasawara Nobuo writes that “the history of Japan and the history of the sword are one”. Given their symbolic value, the reception and distribution of swords within a society is an issue to be aware of. The Japanese sword (nihontō) enjoys a high popularity in modern popular culture as well as in circles of traditional sword fighting and forging. There are different shapes of nihontō, among them the so-called kogarasumaru-zukuri. The latter are named after a specific blade, a shape which is neither well-known nor widely distributed. When looking at auctions and catalogues, this shape is notably absent. Only a handful of blades of this type remain to this day.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for this scarcity and pose possible answers, as well as proposing new questions for further research. In order to achieve this, the main thesis is rather unconventional and also aims to open up some areas of thought left unexplored until now.

The Hepburn transcription has been used throughout this article for Japanese terms. The only exception is the word Kogarasumaru for the blade in question, which is spelled with a capital “K” to distinguish it from the sword type.