List of Wazamono


Wazamono is a Japanese term that, in a literal sense, refers to an instrument that plays as it should; in the context of Japanese swords and sword collecting, wazamono denotes any sword with a sharp edge that has been tested to cut well, usually by professional sword appraisers via the art of tameshigiri.
The term wazamono has been popularized by two books published during the late Edo period. The first is called Kaihō Kenjaku, a single-volume authoritative index classifying historic Japanese swordsmiths based on the quality of their blades; the book's first edition was compiled and published in 1797, with re-publishings made in 1805 and 1815 due to the book's popularity. The contents, written and edited by Tsuge Heisuke Masayoshi, a samurai of the Karatsu Domain in Hizen Province, were based on the recorded cutting tests done by Yamada Asaemon V Yoshimutsu, an executioner of the Tokugawa Shogunate and fifth head of the famous Yamada Asaemon line of sword testers; single cuts were performed on the corpses of executed criminals aged 30 to 50, cutting their torsos roughly above nipple height.
The Kaihō Kenjaku identified, in total, 163 wazamono swordsmiths, grouped into four "grades" based on the cutting performance of their blades:
  • Saijō Ōwazamono — the highest grade, which counted 12 swordsmiths whose swords could cut through torsos 8–9 out of 10 times;
  • Ōwazamono — the second-highest grade, counting 21 swordsmiths whose swords could cut through torsos 7–8 out of 10 times;
  • Yokiwazamono or Ryōwazamono — the third-highest grade, counting 50 swordsmiths whose swords could cut through torsos 5–7 out of 10 times;
  • Wazamono — the fourth and lowest grade, counting 80 swordsmiths whose swords could cut through torsos 3–4 out of 10 times.
The Mixed Grades category included 65 additional swordsmiths noted for having swords of mixed quality/sharpness level.
The 1805 and 1815 re-publishings of Kaihō Kenjaku saw adjustments be made to the rankings. In 1830, a second book, called Kokon Kaji Bikō, was published as a major revised list of the wazamono ratings. This new list yet again made amends to the original, and new sword makers were added, such that there were now 15 sword makers in the Saijō Ōwazamono category, 21 in the Ōwazamono category, 58 in the Yokiwazamono category, 93 in the Wazamono category, and 68 in the mixed category, for a total of 255 swords. This time, the cutting tests had been conducted by the 7th head of the Yamada family lineage, Yamada Asaemon Yoshitoshi.
The katana forged by Nagasone Kotetsu, one of the top-rated swordsmiths, became very popular at the time when the books were published, and many counterfeits were made. Furthermore, the swordsmiths treated specially in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō and Muramasa were omitted from the listings. The reasons are thought to be that Yamada was afraid of challenging the authority of the shōgun, that he could not use precious swords possessed by the daimyō in the examination, and that he was considerate of the legend of Muramasa's curse.
A misconception about the wazamono classification is that it is a sword ranking, since the term wazamono itself refers to swords; however, the grades pertain to swordsmiths, graded according to the cutting ability of their blades. See the below list of the swordsmiths listed in the Kaihō Kenjaku.

Twelve (12) ''Saijō Ōwazamono''

The original list of 12 swordsmiths who, based on the cutting ability of their blades, hold the highest rank of Saijō Ōwazamono :
File:刀 銘 長曽祢興里入道乕徹, Katana Nagasone Kotetsu.jpg|thumb|300px|Katana forged by Nagasone Kotetsu. The letters inlaid with gold on the tang (nakago) indicated that Yamano Kauemon, the official executioner of the Tokugawa shogunate and examiner of sword cutting performance, cut four human torsos overlapped.
In the reprinted edition released in 1805 as well as the major revised edition of 1830, the three swordsmiths Soboro Sukehiro, Osafune Kagemitsu, and Izuminokami Kanesada were added to the list.

Twenty-one (21) ''Ōwazamono''

The original list of 21 swordsmiths who, based on the cutting ability of their blades, hold the second-highest rank of Ōwazamono :

Fifty (50) ''Yoki-/Ryōwazamono''

The original list of 50 swordsmiths who, based on the cutting ability of their blades, hold the third-highest rank of Yokiwazamono, alternatively pronounced Ryōwazamono :
  • Osafune Iesuke II
  • Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa
  • Jirō Saemon Katsumitsu
  • Ukyō Susumu Katsumitsu
  • Kanesada III
  • Seki Kanefusa
  • Seki Kanetsune
  • Kōzukenosuke Kaneshige
  • Echizen Kanetane I
  • Echizen Kanenori
  • Aizu Kanesada
  • Echigo no Kami Kunihiro
  • Yamashiro no Kami Kunikane II
  • Yamashiro no Daijō Kunitsugu I
  • Okayama Kunimune
  • Ōyogo Kunishige
  • Ishidō Korekazu I = Musashi Daijō Koreichi I
  • Iga no Kami Sadatsugu
  • Nanki Shigekuni I
  • Tsuda Ōmi no Kami Sukenao
  • Osafune Sukemitsu
  • Yokoyama Sukesada = Sukesada IX
  • Osafune Tadamitsu
  • Ikkanshi Tadatsuna
  • Settsu no Kami Tadayuki I
  • Mutsu Tadashige
  • Sōshū Tsunahiro I
  • Tsushima no Kami Tsunemitsu = Heki Tsunemitsu
  • Tango no Kami Naomichi
  • Osafune Norimitsu I
  • Sukeemon Norimitsu
  • Osafune Norimitsu I
  • Osafune Norimitsu II
  • Osafune Hidesuke
  • Ōmi no Kami Hisamichi I
  • Kanabō Masazane
  • Sakakura Masatoshi I
  • Sakakura Masatoshi II
  • Yamato no Daijō Masanori I
  • Ōshū Masanaga = Aizu Masanaga
  • Heki Mitsuhira
  • Sakyō no Shin Munemitsu
  • Heki Munehiro
  • Osafune Morikage = Ōmiya Morikage
  • Yasutsugu I
  • Yasutsugu II
  • Yamato no Kami Yasusada
  • Bitchū no Kami Yasuhiro
  • Takada Yukinaga
  • Kyō Yoshimichi I
  • Kyō Yoshimichi II
  • Ōsaka Yoshimichi I
  • Ōsaka Yoshimichi II
  • Musashi no Kami Yoshikado
  • Ise Daijō Yoshihiro
  • Aoe Tsugunao
  • ''Shizu Kaneuji''

Eighty (80) ''Wazamono''

The original list of 80 swordsmiths who, based on the cutting ability of their blades, hold the fourth-highest rank of Wazamono :
  • Tachibana Ippō =? Sasaki Ippō II
  • Tegarayama Ujishige I''Yamato no Daijō Ujishige I
  • Kashū Katsuie I
  • Kashū Katsuie II
  • Aizu Kanetomo I
  • Kanetane
  • Musashi no Kami Kanenaka
  • Sakushū Kanekage
  • Tsutsui Kijū, son of Kanekuni
  • Kunikore = Sagami no Kami Kunimasa
  • Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke I II III
  • Yamashiro no Kami Kunikiyo I
  • Yamashiro no Kami Kunikiyo II
  • Aizu Kunisada
  • Sagami no Kami Kunitsuna
  • Obama Kuniyoshi =? Takai Kuniyoshi
  • Kōriyama Kunitake =? Sugawara Kunitake
  • Suzuki Kaga no Kami Sadanori
  • Izumo no Kami Sadashige
  • Kaga no Kami Sadahiro
  • Yamato no Daijō Sadayuki
  • Inoue Shinkai
  • Doi Shinryō
  • Umetada Shigeyoshi
  • Harima no Daijō Shigetaka I
  • Nobukuni Shigekane
  • Nobukuni Shigesada of
  • Takada Shigeyuki
  • Maru Tsuda Sukehiro =?Tsuda Sōsho Mei Sukehiro, successor of Sukehiro I above.
  • Suketaka = Sesshū Suketaka
  • Sukenobu = Sesshū jū Minamoto no Sukenobu = Dewa no Kami Sukenobu
  • Hanabusa Sukekuni = Bizen no Kami Yūkoku
  • Harima no Daijō Tadakuni I = Hizen jū Harima no Daijō Fujiwara no Tadakuni I = Hizen Tadakuni I
  • Tadayoshi IV
  • Shinano Daijō Tadakuni I = Heianjō jū Tadakuni I
  • Tsuguhira I
  • Shimosaka Tsuguhiro
  • Higo no Kami Teruhiro
  • Shitahara Terushige
  • Mutsu no Kami Toshinaga I
  • Yamashiro no Kami Toshinaga I
  • Musashi no Kami Tomotsune
  • Tsunbo Nagatsuna
  • Takai Nobuyoshi I
  • Hōki no Kami Nobutaka I
  • Hōki no Kami Nobutaka II
  • Jūrō Saemon Harumitsu
  • Kinshiro Hisamichi
  • Yamashiro no Kami Hidetoki I
  • Hiromasa = Wakasa no Kami Hiromasa
  • Hōki no Kami Hirotaka
  • Hōjōji Masahiro
  • Etchū no Kami Masatoshi
  • Hizen Masahiro I, disciple of above.
  • Bitchū no Daijō Masanaga
  • Kanabō Masatsugu
  • Takada Muneyuki I
  • Shimosaka Munemichi =? Kazusa no Daijō Munemichi
  • Mutsu no Kami Muneshige
  • Motoyuki = = Kawachi no Kami Motoyuki
  • Senjuin Morikuni
  • Tōren Morihisa =? Ishidō Morihisa
  • Yasunaga = Kawachi no Kami Yasunaga
  • Sendai Yasutomo II
  • Dewa no Kami Yukihiro = Hizen Yukihiro I
  • Izumo no Daijō Yoshitake I
  • Izumo no Daijō Yoshitake II
  • Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi I
  • Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi II
  • Kōzukenosuke Yoshimasa
  • Yoshikuni Tosa = Kōzuke no Kami Yoshikuni
  • Onizuka Yoshikuni''

Mixed

The following is the category of sword makers who, per the aforementioned listings, produced a mixture of quality: Ōwazamono, Yoki-/Ryōwazamono, or Wazamono. A total of 65 swordsmiths belong to this category:
  • Osafune Arimitsu
  • Sasaki Ippō I
  • Kashū Ieyoshi
  • Kashū Ietada
  • Seki Kanekuni
  • Hachiya Kanesada
  • Seki Kanetoki
  • Seki Kaneoto
  • Seki Kanemichi
  • Sagami no Kami Kaneyasu
  • Kōzuke no Kami Kanesada
  • Shimousa no Daijō Kanemasa
  • Komatsu Kanemaki
  • Tegai Kanesada
  • Kawachi no Kami Tsutsusada
  • Naminohira Kiyosuke
  • Akasaka Senjuin Kuninaga
  • Uda Kunifusa
  • Satsuma Kunihira
  • Kawashima Kunihira
  • Hōjōji Kuniyoshi
  • Matsuyama Kuniteru
  • Yamato no Kami Kuniyuki
  • Nisshū Kunitomi
  • Namihira Shigeyoshi
  • Nanki Shigekuni II
  • Iga Shizumasa
  • Seki Jumyō
  • Musashi Sukechika
  • Dewa no Kami Sukeshige
  • Shichibe Yusada
  • Etchū no Kami Takahira
  • Echigo no Kami Tadamichi
  • Mutsu no Kami Tameyasu I
  • Shimosaka Tametoshi
  • Sōshuū Tsunaie
  • Osafune Tsuneie I
  • Osafune Tsuneie II
  • Mutsu no Kami Terumasa
  • Takada Teruyuki
  • Seki Nagatoshi
  • Settsu no Kami Nagashige I
  • Osafune Hisamitsu
  • Kōzuke no Kami Hisakuni
  • Senjuin Hironaga
  • Aki Hirotaka I
  • Shinano no Kami Hirokane I
  • Namihira Hiroyasu
  • Dōtanuki Masakuni
  • Mihara Masachika
  • Ishimichi Masatoshi
  • Bungo no Kami Shōzen
  • Sagami no Kami Masatsune I
  • Wakasa no Kami Michitoki
  • Shimousa no Daijō Muneyoshi
  • Taira Morikata
  • Sōshū Yasuharu
  • Shimohara Yasushige I
  • Yamato no Kami Yasuyuki
  • Fujishima Yukimitsu
  • Darani Yoshiie
  • Harima no Kami Yoshinari
  • Sanjō Yoshikuni
  • ''Osafune Yoshimitsu''

In popular culture

In the hit manga One Piece, so-called meitō are prominently featured: bladed weapons forged by master craftsmen and wielded by powerful List of [One Piece characters|pirates and marines alike]. The finest of these fall into a Wazamono grading system, classifying them into four grades that are directly inspired by those defined in the Japanese Kaihō Kenjaku. Namely, there are 12 Saijō Ōwazamono blades, 21 Ōwazamono blades, 50 Ryōwazamono blades, and an unknown number of low-ranking Wazamono blades. One of the main characters, Roronoa Zoro, is notable for wielding three Wazamono swords at all times.