Jūyō Bunkazai and Kokuhō

[Altag]

Dear all,

 

Does anyone know the (even approximate) number of blades declared Jūyō Bunkazai?

Thank you,

 

Sergio B
 

[Ian B3HR2UH]

Hi Sergio , just over a thousand . Jussi has the exact number in his writings .

[David Flynn]

I believe Paul Martin, is doing a book on Kokuho.

[Altag]

Thank you Ian and David,

 

May I ask who is Jussi ?

 

Thanks,

 

Sergio B.

[ROKUJURO]

Sergio,

welcome to the NMB forum!

[Brian]

@Jussi Ekholm

 

[Altag]

Thanks Jean and Brian...

 

Sergio B

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think I got every item in this list:

There could be 1 or 2 that I missed as I searched for them. The PDF further down the thread should be the most up to date one.

 

[Gakusee]

Jussi, could you please remind me: does your list include only the “national” JuBu or also the regional ones? 
Many thanks again for your monumental work! 

[Jussi Ekholm]

As Michael noted above there are actually many levels of Bunkazai in Japan. The list above has only National level (国) Bunkazai. There are also Prefecture level (県) Bunkazai and City level (市) Bunkazai.

 

I have gone through almost all of the 47 prefectures (Tokyo and Kyoto are still in process) for Prefecture Bunkazai, and have found c. 210 swords so far that are relevant for my intrests (Heian - Early Muromachi). There are actually a lot more swords & fittings in total, probably could be close to National level in numbers as I only picked the ones relevant for my research and intrest. One problem is that for these there is often quite little info to go on. But of those items I have been able to match for certain 3 Jūyō Bijutsuhin, 3 Tokubetsu Jūyō and 18 Jūyō swords that also carry Prefecture Bunkazai prestige.

 

The City Bunkazai list is still a work in progress for me, and I admit going through only few cities lately as I find it bit tedious and I have had much more interesting research material lately. If the list I am working from is correct there are bit over 800 cities in Japan, and so far I have managed through 187. For city Bunkazai items there is often very little info available. The items that are City Bunkazai are often not as interesting to me as higher designations. There are actually a lot of swords but so far on my own research interests I have only found c. 30 interesting swords. Out of those 30 I have been able to match 6 Jūyō swords and 1 Hozon.

[Gakusee]

54 minutes ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

As Michael noted above there are actually many levels of Bunkazai in Japan. The list above has only National level (国) Bunkazai. There are also Prefecture level (県) Bunkazai and City level (市) Bunkazai.

 

I have gone through almost all of the 47 prefectures (Tokyo and Kyoto are still in process) for Prefecture Bunkazai, and have found c. 210 swords so far that are relevant for my intrests (Heian - Early Muromachi). There are actually a lot more swords & fittings in total, probably could be close to National level in numbers as I only picked the ones relevant for my research and intrest. One problem is that for these there is often quite little info to go on. But of those items I have been able to match for certain 3 Jūyō Bijutsuhin, 3 Tokubetsu Jūyō and 18 Jūyō swords that also carry Prefecture Bunkazai prestige.

 

The City Bunkazai list is still a work in progress for me, and I admit going through only few cities lately as I find it bit tedious and I have had much more interesting research material lately. If the list I am working from is correct there are bit over 800 cities in Japan, and so far I have managed through 187. For city Bunkazai items there is often very little info available. The items that are City Bunkazai are often not as interesting to me as higher designations. There are actually a lot of swords but so far on my own research interests I have only found c. 30 interesting swords. Out of those 30 I have been able to match 6 Jūyō swords and 1 Hozon.

That is just pure excellence….Remarkable perseverance and determination! 

[Curran]

On 1/15/2023 at 5:46 AM, Altag said:

Thank you Ian and David,

 

May I ask who is Jussi ?

 

Thanks,

 

Sergio B.

 

 

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