{{Short description|Japanese sword}} {{Nihongo|'''Yamatorige'''|山鳥毛||"feather of a copper pheasant"}}, equally known as '''Sanchōmō''' by its Sino-Japanese reading, is a ''tachi'' (Japanese greatsword) forged during the middle Kamakura period (13th century). The set of the blade and its ''koshirae'' (mountings) is a National Treasure of Japan. It was wielded by Uesugi Kagekatsu (1556–1623), a powerful warlord in the Sengoku period, and had been inherited by his clan.<ref name=okayama_treasure>{{Citation|title=太刀 無銘一文字（山鳥毛）|journal=おかやまの文化財|publisher=岡山県|url=http://www.pref.okayama.jp/cgi-bin/bunka/culture/controller/client/resultDetail.cgi?id=568|access-date=2018-12-27|archive-date=2018-12-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227151510/http://www.pref.okayama.jp/cgi-bin/bunka/culture/controller/client/resultDetail.cgi?id=568}}</ref>
== History == Yamatorige was forged during the middle Kamakura period (13th century).{{sfn|文化庁|1984|p=169}}
According to Kanzan Sato, a ''nihontō'' (Japanese sword) appraiser and researcher, it was named so in order to honor the beauty of the ''tachi'' by likening it to the feather of a copper pheasant or the landscape of sunset mountains.{{sfn|佐藤|1964|pp=169-170}} In addition, Suiken Fukunaga, another ''nihontō'' appraiser/researcher, cites a theory written in {{Nihongo|''Sourinji Denki''|『双林寺伝記』}} that the name came from the landscape of a wildfire.{{Sfn|福永|1969|p=140}} Fukunaga himself, however, remarks the wildfire theory is utterly dubious.{{Sfn|福永|1969|p=140}}
The ''tachi'' is one of the 35 swords favored by the warlord Uesugi Kagekatsu (1556–1623),{{sfn|文化庁|1984|p=169}} an adopted son and the successor of the "God of War" Uesugi Kenshin. Later it had been inherited as one of the greatest heirlooms of the Yonezawa-Uesugi clan, the head of the Uesugi clans.{{sfn|文化庁|1984|p=169}}
On March 29, 1952, the ''tachi'' was designated a National Treasure of Japan.<ref name=kanpo1952>日本国、昭和27年10月16日文化財保護委員会告示第21号。Date accepted is March 29.</ref> Its ''koshirae'' (mountings) are a part of the designation as accessories to the blade.{{R|kanpo1952}}<ref name=jouetsu_2016>{{Citation|last=上越市|title=謙信公の愛刀を、 故郷 「上越市」へ|publisher=上越市|date=2016-11-01|url=https://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/uploaded/attachment/122141.pdf|archive-date=2019-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615085807/https://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/uploaded/attachment/122141.pdf|page=2}}</ref>
In 2020, Setouchi City purchased ''yamatorige'' from an individual, which was then housed in the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum. The purchase cost was about 500 million yen (About $5 million).<ref name=nikkei_20200217>{{Citation|newspaper=The Nikkei|url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO55729560X10C20A2LC0000/|date=2020-02-17|access-date=2020-03-18|archive-date=2020-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318152304/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO55729560X10C20A2LC0000/|title=国宝備前刀の保管・PR、瀬戸内市が市長直轄部署}}</ref>
== List of name variations == The official full name for the blade and its mountings designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs is {{Nihongo|'''Tachi Mumei-Ichimonji (Yamatorige) Hitokuchi tsuketari Uchigatana-Goshirae'''|太刀 無銘一文字（山鳥毛） 一口 附 打刀拵||"An Unsigned ''Tachi'' by the Ichimonji School (Yamatorige) with Mountings for a ''Katana''-Type Sword"}}.<ref name=kanpo1952 />
Markus Sesko, a researcher on Japanese swords, calls the sword {{Nihongo|Yamatorige-Ichimonji|山鳥毛一文字}}.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Sesko|first1=Markus|title=Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword|publisher=Books on Demand|year=2011|page=88|isbn=978-3842366039|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFTNe-WjyBcC&q=%E5%B1%B1%E9%B3%A5%E6%AF%9B%E3%80%80sword&pg=PA88}}</ref>
Due to both its ambiguous origin and the highly complex reading system for ''kanji'' characters, the sword has a wide variety of associated names.
* Yamatorige<ref name=kanpo1952 /> - ''kun'yomi'' (native reading) for the ''kanji'' characters {{lang|ja|山鳥毛}} * Yamadorige{{sfn|福永|1993|p=235}} - a variant of native reading * Sanchōmō<ref name=satou_ueno_p74>{{Citation|last1=佐藤|first1=寛介|last2=植野|first2=哲也|title=備前刀: 日本刀の王者|publisher=日本文教出版|series=岡山文庫|volume=282|year=2013|page=74|isbn=9784821252824}}</ref> - ''on'yomi'' (Sino-Japanese reading) for the same characters * Sanshōmō{{sfn|岡野|1958|p=32}}{{sfn|佐藤|1964|p=169}} - by characters written on a wooden plate co-inherited with this ''tachi''{{sfn|岡野|1958|p=32}} * Yamashōmō{{sfn|福永|1993|p=231}}
==See also== * List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts-swords)
==References== {{Reflist|1}}
==Bibliography== *{{Citation|last=岡野|first=多郎松|editor=佐藤貫一|title=備山愛刀図譜|publisher=岡野多郎松|year=1958|url={{NDLDC|8799599}}|language=ja}} *{{Citation|last=佐藤|first=寒山|title=上杉景勝御手選三十五腰|journal=武将と名刀|publisher=人物往来社|date=1964|url={{NDLDC|2503474}}|language=ja}} *{{Citation|last=福永|first=酔剣|title=日本刀大百科事典|volume=5|publisher=雄山閣出版|date=1993-11-20|isbn=4639012020|language=ja}} *{{Citation|last=福永|first=酔剣|title=日本刀物語 続|publisher=雄山閣出版|date=1969|url={{NDLDC|2526226}}|language=ja}} *{{Citation|last=文化庁|title=工芸品 III|publisher=毎日新聞社|series=国宝|volume=8|date=1984-12-16|language=ja}}
Category:Individual Japanese swords Category:National Treasures (Japan) Category:Nagao-Uesugi family