, often

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

with a somewhat misplaced

hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...

as ''Kikuichi-monji'', is a collective name given to the ''

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

'' (a type of

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1,000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794–1185) to the ...

) made by the thirteen

swordsmiths Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworkin ...

who were in attendance to the

Emperor Go-Toba was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198. This 12th-century sovereign was named after Emperor Toba, and ''go-'' (後), translates literally as "later"; ...

in 1208. Each swordsmith was in attendance to the emperor for a month of the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

. Most of the thirteen swordsmiths were from the Fukuoka Ichimonji school, which belongs to the Bizen school. The swordsmiths of the Fukuoka-ichimonji School traditionally inscribed only the Japanese ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' character "Ichi" (一, ''one'') on the tang of their swords as their signature. Among the forged swords, Imperial chrysanthemum emblem was engraved on the tang of the sword which the Emperor Go-toba cooled with water, which was the process of making the sword. Therefore, the swords made by thirteen swordsmiths together with the Emperor Go-toba came to be called 'Kiku-ichimoji.' (lit,. chrysanthemum, character one)Kotobank, Kiku-ichimonji.

The Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

However, among the swords they forged, those with chrysanthemum emblem and "Ichi" (一, ''one'') engraved on the tang do not exist. Existing swords with chrysanthemum emblem and 'Ichi' (一, ''one'') engraved on their tang were made in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. Go-Toba was interested in the construction of Japanese swords, and so he summoned these swordsmiths, granting them court rank and title, and asked them to share the secrets of the production of higher-quality swords.

List of swordsmiths

*1st month: Norimune (from Fukuoka in

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

) *2nd month: Sadatsugu (from Ko-aoe in

Bitchū Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing form ...

) *3rd month: Nobufusa (from Fukuoka in

) *4th month: Kuniyasu (from Awataguchi in

Yamashiro Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai. It overlaps the southern part of modern Kyoto Prefecture on Honshū. Aliases include , the rare , and . It is classified as an upper province in the '' Engishiki''. Yamashiro Province included Kyoto it ...

) *5th month: Tsunetsugu (from Ko-aoe in

) *Intercalary month: Hisakuni (from Awataguchi in

) *6th month: Kunitomo (from Awataguchi in

) *7th month: Muneyoshi (from Fukuoka, in

) *8th month: Tsuguie (from Ko-aoe in

) *9th month: Sukemune (from Fukuoka in

) *10th month: Yukikuni (from Fukuoka in

) *11th month: Sukenari (from Fukuoka in

) *12th month: Sukenobu (from Fukuoka in

)

''Kiku-ichimonji'' in popular culture

Owing to the popularity of

Shiba Ryōtarō Shiba may refer to: *Shiba Inu, a breed of dog *Shiba clan, Japanese clan originating in the Sengoku period * Shiba Inu (cryptocurrency), a decentralized cryptocurrency Geography *Shiba, Tokyo, a former ward of Tokyo, Japan *Shiba Park in Tokyo * ...

's fiction, many modern fans of the

Shinsengumi The was a small secret police organization, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was ac ...

believe a ''Kiku-ichimonji'' made by Norimune to have been

Okita Soji Okita is a Japanese surname. Ōkita, sometimes spelled Ookita, is a different Japanese surname pronounced with a long vowel at the beginning. Notable people with these surnames include: * , Japanese samurai in the Shinchōgumi police force of Edo (m ...

's sword. Historically, Okita used a sword made by Kiyomitsu of

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its ...

, among other blades. In the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

versions of

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

, a Norimune-made ''Kiku-ichimonji'' is wielded by

Seta Sōjirō , addressed as Sojiro Seta in the English anime, is a fictional character from the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga series created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. He is Shishio Makoto's 16-year-old right-hand man. Sōjirō has been favorably popular with the ''Ru ...

(who is based on a darker Okita from the novel '' Shinsengumi Keppuroku''.) In the sci-fi alternate history ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

'' action-comedy anime and manga

Gintama is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to September 2018, later in '' Jump Giga'' from December 2018 ...

, a member of the anime world's

, Okita Sougo, owns a katana dubbed "''Kiku-ichimonji'' RX-78", which features, alongside basic featurea such as sharp blade, a digital music player with a maximum 124 hours of playtime in its hilt. Okita Sougo himself was loosely based on the historical figure

, alluding to popular rumours that a ''Kiku-ichimonji'' was Okita Soji's sword. Swords styled as "''Kiku-ichimonji''" or which share characteristics with ''Kiku-ichimonji'' appear in many

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. In

Inazuma Eleven GO is an association football-themed media franchise created by Level-5. The franchise began with the release of ''Inazuma Eleven'' in 2008, with the game series selling over 8 million copies worldwide by 2016. In addition to video games, the franc ...

, ''Kiku-ichimonji'' is used by Tsurugi Kyosuke in his Mixi-Max form. In

Final Fantasy IV titled ''Final Fantasy II'' in its initial North American release, is a 1991 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The fourth main installment of the ''Final ...

, ''Kiku-ichimonji'' is a type of sword used by

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

, the ninja. It is also a type of sword wielded by ninjas and assassins in multiple games from that series.

Path of Exile ''Path of Exile'' is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. Following an open beta phase, the game was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2013. A version for Xbox One was released in ...

features a sword named Ichimonji, paying homage to the ''Kiku-ichimonji'' and resembling them in appearance. In

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray is an anime series developed by Sunrise (company), Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, ...

, the Gundam Astray Red Frame wields a katana named Gerbera Straight, which a literal translation of ''Kiku-ichimonji''. In the

Golden Sun (series) is a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. It follows the story of a group of magically-attuned "adepts" who are charged with preventing the potentially destructive power ...

''Kiku-ichimonji'' is a light blade that can be obtained and equipped in some characters. In Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land, a character named Hina wields the Kikuichimonji. In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, ichimonji is a heavy, overhead attack found in the

Ashina Ashina may refer to: *Ashina tribe, a ruling dynasty of the Turkic Khaganate *Ashina clan (Japan) is a Japanese clans, Japanese clan that emerged during the Sengoku period.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire ...

Arts Skill Tree. In

Touken Ranbu is a free-to-play collectible card browser video game developed by Nitroplus and DMM Games. The game was launched in Japan in January 2015, in mainland China in 2017, and worldwide in April 2021. The franchise has inspired and been adapted a ...

, during the event ''Special Investigation: Keiou Koufu'', it is possible to get a Kiku-ichimonji named ''Ichimonji Norimune''. If the unit used for the event has ''Kashuu Kiyomitsu'', special cutscenes between the two of them can be unlocked. In

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' (abbreviated as OW) is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. ''Overwatch (video game), Overwatch'' was released in 2016 with a success ...

, Genji's sword is named ''Ryu-ichimonji'' (龍一文字), which is a play on words by replacing the 菊/''Kiku'' (Chrysanthemum) with 龍/''Ryu'' (Dragon), which is the spirit animal of Genji's clan.

References

Brief history and list of the 13 ''Kiku-ichimonji'' swordsmiths
(19 Sept. 2007) * Japanese Wikipedia page on Norimune's ''Kiku-ichimonji'' (19 Sept. 2007)
"Beloved Swords of the Shinsengumi members"
(19 Sept. 2007) *{{in lang, ja ''Kiku-ichimonji'' sword on display at Tokyo's Seikado Museu

External links

Kikuichi
cutlery company with historical ties to a ''Go-Toba''-era swordsmit
''kikuichi.net''
(19 Sept. 2007) Individual Japanese swords