ABOUT

A renowned centre of sword-making since the Kamakura Period, over the intervening 800 years Osafune has been the home of countless thousands of sword craftsmen, producing such legendary sword-making groups as the Ichimonji and Osafune schools.
The most prolific of all sword-producing regions in Japan, it is responsible for almost fifty percent of Japan’s National Treasure swords, including the crown jewel of the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum, the ‘Sanchōmō’.

Long hidden away in a private collection, the City of Setouchi, driven by a moral conviction to return the blade to public ownership and make it available for all to see, kickstarted the ‘Sanchōmō Homecoming Project’. Raising over $8 million (880 million yen) in donations, the runaway success of the project saw the Sanchōmō enter the collection of the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum and returned to its birthplace in 2020.
The repository for many people’s hopes and dreams, the Sanchōmō is not just any cultural artefact. A record of the land and culture of Osafune, it is living proof of its long and winding history, every step taken hand in hand with and coloured by the Japanese sword.

Not only the custodian of numerous artistic masterpieces, the Bizen Osafune Japanese Sword Museum also contains an array of working ateliers, where visitors can talk to and view real sword craftsmen at work. From smithing to engraving, to polishing and lacquering, it is the only place of its kind, where people can see, hear, and feel every step of the swordmaking process up close, and is evidence made manifest that the ancient techniques and spirit of the Japanese sword are still alive and well in Osafune.

Blessed by the one-time major riverine trade artery that is the Yoshii River, Bizen Fukuoka prospered in the middle-ages as one of west Japan’s most lively trading cities. A nexus for the movement of people and goods, it became a hub for industry and cultural development. It was against this backdrop that the famous Fukuoka Ichimonji School of swordsmithing developed during the early 13th century.

Founded by Norimune, the Fukuoka Ichimonji School created countless unparalleled art pieces featuring their trademark vibrant, dynamic ‘chōji’ temper line, and its members are held up as some of the greatest masters of all Japanese sword history. Many of their surviving blades are today designated as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, including the Sanchōmō. It is no exaggeration to say that Bizen Fukuoka is the genesis of the Holy Land of the Japanese sword, Osafune.

While once the sound of hammer on anvil and the roar of its forges echoed out constantly, tirelessly, marking the birth of masterpiece after masterpiece, the philosophy that both guided and was shaped by these great artists still slumbers within Fukuoka.

Created by a group of like-minded locals, ITTO was created in Osafune, ‘The Holy Land of the Japanese Sword’ to pass on not only the region’s sword history and culture to the next generation, but also the craftsmanship and unique worldview that developed alongside it.

Based in a desire to preserve the area’s landscape and historical heritage, ITTO is also working to reimagine it, developing opportunities that take it beyond being a simple time-capsule, to become a living, breathing part of the local culture that can survive into the future and last another 800 years.

Connecting modern sword craftsmen, local businesses, and other stakeholders, it aims to create a positive feedback loop of job and value-creation that provides broad-ranging economic benefits for the city as a whole.

Drawing on everything from the region’s strong local memory of its history as a prosperous mercantile centre, to its distinct food culture, ITTO looks beyond swords, weaving together Osafune’s many heritage resources to increase the region’s cultural potential.

Through ITTO’s many initiatives, visitors to Osafune will find themselves immersed in sword philosophy and the region’s distinct culture, and come face-to-face with the very soul of Japan that lies beneath. More than anything, the goal of ITTO is to reveal what makes Osafune such a fascinating place to visit, and to share it with as many people as possible, both in Japan and abroad.