Photo/Illutration Kiyohide Ishioka explains the significance of the “wakizashi” short sword at the Tomonoura Museum of History and Folklore in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sept. 15. (Hidenori Sato)

FUKUYAMA, Hiroshima Prefecture—A rare sword thought to have been forged in the Tomo district here during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) will go on display at the Tomonoura Museum of History and Folklore here from Oct. 15.

The “wakizashi” short sword is inscribed with the signature of “Bingo Tomotsu Yabushita Asazo,” with the word “tsu” of Tomotsu meaning “port.”

“We have never seen an inscription on a blade including the geographical name of Tomotsu,” an official of the city-run museum said. “It is an extremely important item that sheds light on the history of Tomo-style swordsmith techniques cultivated in the port town.”

The sword, which is 39.8 centimeters long with a “sori” curvature of 0.9 cm, was donated by Masao Morioka, a resident of Fukuyama.

“I decided to donate it to contribute to the understanding of the history of the Tomo district,” said Morioka, 85, whose hobby is practicing traditional martial arts and collecting swords.

Bingo is the name of the present-day eastern Hiroshima Prefecture.

“Yabushita” refers to where a group of swordsmiths was based, while “Asazo” is the name of the swordsmith, according to Kiyohide Ishioka, a member of the committee in charge of examining registrations of guns and swords for the Hiroshima prefectural government.

“It is fair to say that it was created during the Muromachi Period, probably around 600 years ago,” Ishioka, 67, said. “The ‘jigane’ (patterns on the blade) is superb. It represents the characteristics of Bingo swords in fine detail.”

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