Looking at swords in Miyagi prefecture
Shiogama
During my holiday to Japan in November 2001 I visited Shiogama Jingu (Miyagi
prefecture) after having been informed by some locals that there were some
big swords there.
Shiogama is a pretty shrine with a number of buildings and gardens within
it's extensive grounds.
THE SHIOGAMA JINGU MUSEUM
Open 8:00-17:00(Apr-Oct)/ 8:00-16:00(Nov-Mar) the museum is a fairly
modern structure in the corner of the shrine's grounds.
The address is 1-1 Ichimoriyama, Shiogama, Miyagi.
Admission fees: Adult JYE \200 Child JYE \150.
The museum holds around 5,000 artifacts about Shiogama’s history, such
as treasures, swords, handwriting, and paintings. I was primarily
interested in the swords.
This short sword (Wakizashi) was very thick. The guide informed us
that it was actually too thick to be a practical weapon and was a ceremonial
piece.
This Tachi was made by Raikunimitsu in the 14th Century, the blade length
is 83.6 cm.
This Tachi (long sword) was made by Unsho in the 14th Century, the blade
length is 92.1 cm with a curvature of 3.5 cm.
This Nodachi (field sword) is 120.9 cm long with a 3.3 cm curvature.
As this museum is not a dedicated sword museum the blades on display
were not as good as many on display at Osafune
but it was nice to see some very long Tachi and Nodachi.
HOW TO GET THERE
Follow the signs from Hon-Shiogama Station for directions to the shrine.
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This page was created Monday 12th Aug 2002