@article{oai:tobunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006219,
 author = {廣井, 雄一 and Hiroi, Yuichi},
 issue = {361},
 journal = {美術研究, The bijutsu kenkyu : the journal of art studies},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {(1) Curved swords(wantō) that appeared in Japan from the middle through the end of the Heian period developed with the rise of the martial samurai class, and can be categorized into swords for rituals and swords for actual use in battle. Hyōgo-Kusari swords and Nagafukurin swords are among the different types of swords that were actually used in combat, and Hyōgo-Kusari were especially popular among upper-class samurai and court aristocrats. Hyōgo-Kusari are distinguished by the chain-link (Kusari) by which the sword sheath was suspended from its carrier, and because of its splendid appearance is also called by another name. ikamonozukuri (literally, “splendidly made”) swords. Many swords of this type remain in temples and shrines,but opinion is divided on when they were made. This essay introduces five Hyōgo-Kusari swords and one Nagafukurin sword at Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture, as well as related records of donation to the shrine by the Kamakura shoguns,in an attempt to discover when the extant Hyōgo-kusari swords were produced. 
(2) Hyōgo-kusari swords are of the ridgedtype(shinogi-zukuri), with a curved shaft, a handle made of wood wrapped with shark skin, metal fittings attached above and below, stabilized by kabuto-gane and fuchi-gane metal fittings at either end of the hilt, the hilt itself further held together with the interior blade by menuki peg fittings.
     The sword sheath is made of a wooden core covered with cloth and wrapped with a thin sheet of leather, over which is applied a coat of lacquer which is often decorated with maki-e designs. Ashikanamono fittings are attached to the sheath which is suspended on woven wire chords from the obitori (the part that would be attached to the sword-bearer's belt). However, in the Kamakura period there first appeared flat metal fittings which would be attached to the metal nagafukurin fittings. As for the ashikanamono fittings, at first they were of the “two-legged” type(fig.1), but gradually developed into other shapes, such as the “cupshaped” ashikanamono and “boar's-eye” ashikanamono(fig.3-5). 
(3) The five Hyōgo-kusari and single Nagafukurin swords passed down over generation at the Itsukushima Shrine all have sheaths with gilt bronze fittings. The two swords with crane and Mount P'eng-lai designs have ashikanamono fittings of the “cup-shaped” and “boar's-eye” varieties, with crane and pine designs in relief, and are thought to be included among the five letters of donation from the shogun Yoritsune between 1240(Ninji 1) and 1246(Kangen 4) in the shrine's records. It follows, then, that these swords were produced in the 1240s. The three Hyōgo-kusari swords with peony desgings have ashikanamono completely of peony design instead of “cup-shaped” or “boar's-eye” designs, and from the reference to “peony [designs], Sho-o 6” in the letter of donation of the shogun Prince Hisaaki, these swords appear to have been made in the latter half of the thirteenth century. The blades of these swords were not re-fired, and thus made of soft iron. This indicates that they were not true sword blades, and demonstrates how Hyōgo-kusari swords came to take on a ritual function. 
(4) Based on the Hyōgo-kusari swords at Itsukushima Shrine and the Tsurumarumon Hyōgo-kusari sword dated 1299 (Einin 7) at Atsuta Shrine, the extant Hyogo-kusari swords can be dated as follows:
     1. Among swords with “two-legged” ashikanamono fittings, the sword with pine and crane design on a ground of gold dust at Danzan Shrine in Nara Prefecture dates to the end of the Heian period (12th century); the Hyogo-kusari swords with floral motifs on gold dust ground at Kasuga Shrine date from the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period (12th century).
     2. Among swords with “cup-shaped” and “boar's eye” ashikanamono, the Hyōgo-kusari swords with “three-scale” designs at the Tokyo National Museum, and the Hyogo-kusari swords with Mount P'eng-lai designs at Nibutsuhime Shrine in Wakayama Prefecture appear to date from the Kamakura period (12th-13th century).
     3. Among swords with “cup-shaped” and “boar's eye” ashikanamono fittings with an additional curved design, the Hyōgo-kusari sword with a design of a flock of birds in the Tokyo National Museum appears to date from the Kamakura period (13th century).
     4. Among swords with no “cup-shaped” or “boar's-eye” designs but instead, ashikanamono in a single design, the Hyōgo-kusari sword with lion and peony design at Nibutsuhime Shrine and the three others date to the Kamakura period(late 13th century); the Hyōgo-kusari sword with tsurumaru design in Atsuta Shrine, Aichi Prefecture dates to 1299 (Einin 7); and the Hyōgo-kusari sword with peony design at Oyama Shrine, Ehime Prefecture, and another of the same type at Susa Shrine, Shimane prefecture, date from the end of the Kamakura period (13th through 14th century).},
 pages = {23--47},
 title = {兵庫鎖・長覆輪太刀の制作年代について―厳島神社伝来の太刀を中心に―},
 year = {1995}
}