Kokuhō, Jūyō Bunkazai, Jūyō Bijutsuhin Index

[Jussi Ekholm]

Happy New year folks! Here is a project of mine that I think some might enjoy. This PDF should have all sword related National Treasures (Kokuhō - 122 items), Important Cultural Properties (Jūyō Bunkazai - 792 Items) and former designation Important Art Object (Jūyō Bijutsuhin - 1096 items + 5 EX blades). I have written all of the names in Latin alphabets but I have always included all of the kanji, so you will find lots of signatures in this one. There can be an error or two in the mix as I wrote all of them in by hand and there are thousands of characters to type in. However while doing so I got to check for errors like if years actually are correct, etc. So I kinda did checkup at the same time. There should be 137 Named swords - for which I used term Meitō in this index. There are probably some more in there but for these I have 100% confirmity as I have them in reputable books or online sources from Japan, as well I have the Japanese characters to all of these named swords.

 

How does this work. Well you have 86 pages of swords & items indexed. At first it might seem that there is logic and there is not. First we start with National Tresures, followed by Important Cultural Properties and last the Important Art Objects. This part is logical but the actual placement of items in first two categories are not. As you can see the number in front and you will most likely wonder what it is, here is the explanation for that. I have checked all my data entries to database of Agency for Cultural Affairs. You can find the said database in HERE. They have assigned a number to each item, and I have gone through all the items in crafts section and added them in number by number to make sure there are no duplicates in. The database is only for current designations and as a former category Jūyō Bijutsuhin items are not featured. However I have the old set of books that feature all of the sword related Jūyō Bijutsuhin items, and I have typed them in numerically as they appear in the books.

 

Just note that this is just an index. However you can find some info per item from the database I linked above. Likewise I should have extra information for I guess at least 90% of the swords. But this is just an index and I do have some far superior work in progress to this going on for multiple years. The format is very simple and this should be extremely easy to use. Item number - Item type - Maker - Signature. Few notes, I did not transliterate fitting or koshirae themes as I didn't feel I would get them correct, similarily I didn't type in kinzōgan or kiritsuke mei etc. However for those that I have the data I typed in the kanji so items that you might find interesting you can use the kanji. Same goes for long signatures on the swords. The format is simple, there is just maker and possible year. Signatures are typed in kanji so you can research more on your own.

 

Check it out and I hope it is a fun one, might be totally boring to some.

 

Kokuho & Bunkazai Index.pdf

[BIG]

Great job, Jussi. Thank you very much!!

 

Best

 

PS when do the NBTHK over TH ratings come?

[Brano]

Jussi, that's great job
Again a very useful database
I appreciate your selflessness. The amount of work and energy you share with us for free
Thank you very much 

[Brian]

You are a research machine!
This is one I will add to the downloads section. Awesome work Jussi!

 

[paulb]

Excellent work Jussi. Thank you very much. This is a fantastic reference and a great effort 

[John A Stuart]

Good show. John

[Rivkin]

Much appreciated, great job!

 

[mecox]

Congratulations, an impressive compilation.

[Jean]

Congrats, Jussi, what a job and what dedication👍👍

[Vermithrax16]

Amazing Jussi, thank you!

[b.hennick]

Thanks so much! You have an amazing work ethic!👍👍

[Ian B3HR2UH]

This is great thanks Jussi. It has answered a couple of questions that I had . I have a book Kokuho 8  that was published in 1984 ( my copy is I think a 1990 reprint) . This also lists 122 Kokuho swords . Does this mean that no new Kokuho have been designated since 1990 ?

Ian Brooks

[Jussi Ekholm]

Thanks for the great comments. It has been fun project and I think I'll do an updates on it when I have added more named swords to it (I know I have missed some).

 

I have the same book as you Ian. I think it is great book as it features all of the National treasures. By quick check I believe the last one designated was Kikkō Sadamune in 1964 if I read the database correctly. You can see entry for it HERE

 

For Bunkazai items there have been later ones. By quick search I believe last ones were designated in 1989. HERE is an entry to one of them.

 

As a funny fact there is actually an item that is Jūyō 21 > Tokubetsu Jūyō 2 > Jūyō Bunkazai, a tachi by Kagemitsu that was designated in 1979 and before that had made Tokujū.

[Surfson]

What a great New Years present, thanks Jussi!  I will have fun with this.  Cheers, Bob

[kaliatur]

So much work...so passionate

 

Thank you Jussi !

[Tom Darling]

Jussi,   

You deserve "The Nihonto Gold Medal Award" for achievement and excellence for a job well done.  It exceeded beyond my wildest expectations. extraordinary work!

 

Best regards,

 

Tom

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

thank you 

[Wim V]

Congratulations, a very useful and interesting index I think!  A Big Thank You for sharing it.

[Jussi Ekholm]

Added an item that I missed, there are now 3 Bunkazai axes, as the missing one was recently posted to the forum. 00558 – Axe (金銅蛭巻柄入峰斧)

 

Corrected few kanji as I saw I accidentally used incorrect forms for them. They looked bit different on Word document than on PDF. Here is the updated file

Kokuho & Bunkazai Index.pdf

[Brian]

Updated the file. But since I made you the author, you have rights to upload and update the version in the downloads section

[Guido]

I put together some examples of how the actual certificates look. They used to be issued by the monbushō 文部省, the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture. In January 2001, that ministry and the Science and Technology Agency (kagaku-gijutsu-chō 科学技術庁) merged to become the present Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (monbu-kagaku-shō 文部科学省), also known as monka-shō 文科省 or MEXT.

 

@Jussi: feel free to add the attachment to your article.