He lived in the Muromachi Period and was said to be one of the best.
Muramasa Sengo, one of the most famous swordsmiths in Japan.
The swordsmithing school he founded was famous for making blades even sharper than those
sold in infomercials.
They could cut through wood, metal, plastic...
and can be yours for three easy payments of $29.95!
The man himself had a unique reputation.
He wasn’t very nice.
He was insane.
He would erupt into violence at those around him.
His mind swayed over the edge, about to fall into madness at any moment.
A genius, unstable, bloodthirsty demon who made good swords.
A dark mythos emerged around Muramasa swords.
People associated his toxic personality with his swords, as if he imbued them with his
demonic spirit.
All kinds of outrageous rumors spread.
They said the swords were as bloodthirsty as their creator.
Once you drew a Muramasa blade, it demanded the taste of blood before you could sheath
it.
Even cutting down an enemy was not enough if the blade did not deem the enemy worthy.
And if there were no worthy enemies around, you had to draw your own blood, or even kill
yourself.
When left sheathed for too long, the blade hungered and pushed for its owner to find
a victim.
While wielding a Muramasa, people gained the power of
anonymous Internet commenters:
extreme toughness, protection from harm,
and an irrational hatred for everyone around them.
There were stories of people blindly striking down their friends and family, people who
went crazy under the wicked grip of their swords, people killing themselves to escape
the madness.
These were merely stories, of course, but one person who took them seriously was Tokugawa
Ieyasu, the legendary founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.
A series of coincidences convinced Tokugawa Ieyasu that Muramasa swords had it out for
the Tokugawa clan.
The first incident happened with the grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu, a man named Matsudaira
Kiyoyasu, we’ll call him Grampa Kiyoyasu.
There are many versions of this story, with small details changed, but the gist is the
same.
Grampa Kiyoyasu was the head of the Matsudaira clan.
They were in a conflict with the Oda.
A rumor circulated that a loyal retainer of Grampa Kiyoyasu, Abe Sadayoshi, was secretly
on the enemy’s side.
The rumors ate at Sadayoshi, and he feared his execution was coming.
Sadayoshi called his son and told him even if he were executed, his son should continue
serving the Matsudaira.
In another version of the story, he told his son to kill him to prove his loyalty.
One day, the son heard a ruckus outside, the sound of horses and of Grampa Kiyoyasu shouting.
Thinking his father’s execution was taking place, he burst outside.
We’ll never know if he wanted to witness it, to stop it, or to kill his father himself
(as his father requested) to protect the family’s honor.
Upon seeing Grampa Kiyoyasu, the son drew his sword, adrenalin in his veins, and struck.
The sword cut deep and clean, killing the lord of the Matsudaira.
Yashichi, the son’s name, heard his lord’s final words before he himself was cut down
by a bodyguard.
“Yashichi,” said the lord.
“Please…
delete my Internet history.”
When they inspected the blade Yashichi used, it was revealed to be a Muramasa.
The next incident involved the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu: Matsudaira Hirotada.
Daddy Hirotada was cut in his sleep by an assassin.
Bleeding, he crawled outside and called out.
The guards chased after the assassin and killed him.
Daddy Hirotada survived, apparently the attacker was drunk and missed his mark.
When they removed the assassin’s sword from its handle, it revealed the famed Muramasa
signature.
Tokugawa Ieyasu himself had run-ins with the Muramasa blades.
As a child, he accidentally cut himself with his sword.
Guess what, it was a Muramasa.
Later in life, Ieyasu was in an alliance with the Oda clan, led by Oda Nobunaga.
Nobunaga suspected Ieyasu’s wife was secretly plotting with their mutual enemy, the Takeda.
Ieyasu needed this alliance, so to quell suspicions, he ordered his wife executed.
He then ordered his son to commit seppuku, ritual suicide.
Ieyasu admitted that he did not suspect his son, but could not risk his son avenging his
mother’s death.
He went on to win father of the year later that year.
His son did his duty.
During seppuku, someone stood behind you to cut off your head.
Turns out the sword the decapitator used on Ieyasu’s son was...a Muramasa.
Just one more incident, I promise.
After a battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu was amazed that someone had pierced a spear clean through
an enemy’s head and helmet.
While inspecting the spear, he cut his hand, then made a joke, “ha ha it must be a Muramasa.”
After checking, lo and behold, it was!
Ieyasu said “Jesus Christ” and banned all Muramasa blades from Earth.
There is some debate on how much this ban was enforced, but many swords were destroyed
or melted down.
Now swords were expensive, and many family swords were heirlooms passed down for generations.
So instead of destroying the swords, many people simply removed the Muramasa signature
or changed it to something else.
The myth that Muramasa blades thirsted for Tokugawa blood endured, and enemies of the
Tokugawa actively sought out these blades.
This created a kind of black market for them and many forgeries.
Unfortunately for us, this makes it hard to determine if a Muramasa today is real or fake.
So why did the Tokugawa have so much trouble with Muramasa swords?
Was there really a curse?
Of course not! What is this, anime?
It was all coincidental, confirmation bias.
And the coincidences were not that big.
Muramasa swords were popular, many people had them.
So if someone was killed by a sword, there’s a decent chance it was a Muramasa.