This heavily shortened blade (about 10 centimetres may have been cut from the hilt) shows many of the characteristics of the swords produced during the Nambokucho period (1333-1392). These swords were generally longer and heavier than blades of the previous eras. This blade is elegant and restrained with a long, almost straight tempered edge (‘hamon’), together with the large curved point (‘kissaki’) that is so characteristic of Nambokucho-period swords. Originally a slung sword (‘tachi’), the blade has been remounted as a ‘katana’ - a sword worn with the cutting edge uppermost to enable a fast draw. It has a polished rayskin-covered scabbard with a plain iron guard (‘tsuba’) and other metal fittings in copper and iron inlaid with gold. V&A records indicate that this blade was a gift from the city of Kagoshima to Sir Claude MacDonald, British ambassador to Japan from 1905 to 1912.

In 1333 the Emperor Go-Daigo refused to abdicate in favour of a new military-backed emperor. The military government sent Ashikaga Takauji, the head of a powerful branch of the Minamoto family, to deal with the emperor in Kyoto but instead Ashikaga sided with the emperor’s cause. However, within three years Ashikaga Takauji had rebelled against Go-Daigo and set up his own warrior-backed rival emperor in the north of Kyoto, forcing Go-Daigo to flee south to Yoshino, a mountainous region near the old capital of Nara. The ensuing 60-year period is called the Nambokucho, or the Southern and Northern Courts period. During this time civil war raged throughout the country, but particularly in and around Kyoto itself and the moors of Yoshino. The extended warfare of the period revived the martial spirit of the country and warfare was increasingly carried out by warriors on foot. Accordingly, many swords made during the Nambokucho period reflect the primary importance of the cutting power of the blade when wielded by a foot soldier.