Touken World is a museum operated by the real estate company Token Corporation. It is located near the Ōsu Shopping Street. It just opened in 2024, and the building is very clean and beautiful.
The ticket vending machine is on the second floor.
The ticket vending machine can be switched to English, so you probably won’t have any trouble. The fee for adults is 1,200 yen.
Touken World mainly exhibits Japanese swords, but it also displays armor, bows and arrows, and matchlock guns. Photography is allowed inside the museum, but video recording is not permitted.
Masamune
A large number of Japanese swords are on display, and if you take the time to carefully observe each one, it would probably take 3 to 4 hours. Since posting all the photos I took would be overwhelming, I will introduce some of the most famous Japanese swords that you may have heard of. The sword in the photo above is a Masamune. Masamune was a swordsmith from the Kamakura period, about 800 years ago. Most of the existing Masamune swords have been passed down through shogunate families and feudal lords and are now housed in museums. It is said that this sword was also owned by Emperor Kōmei.
Muramasa
Also on display is a Muramasa, a sword surrounded by legends of being cursed. Muramasa blades were favored by Sengoku warlords, including Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, because several of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s relatives met their deaths involving Muramasa swords, a legend arose that these blades bring a curse upon the Tokugawa family.
Nagasone Kotetsu
The sword by Nagasone Kotetsu is also on display. It was one of the most highly regarded swords during the Edo period. It is well known that there were many fakes at the time, so it was often said, “If you see a Kotetsu, assume it’s a counterfeit.” It is famous that Isami Kondo, the leader of the Shinsengumi, claimed to have used a Kotetsu sword at the Ikedaya incident. However, it was likely a counterfeit, as it would have been difficult for a low-ranking samurai in the late Edo period to acquire an authentic one.
Touken World has a large collection of Japanese swords, making it a fun place for sword enthusiasts. However, the English explanations are somewhat lacking. If you study a bit about Japanese swords beforehand, you’ll be able to enjoy it even more.
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