Credits and Sources

Image and footage credits for History of Katana videos. Listed per episode, newest first. Only sources whose licence requires attribution appear here; public domain and CC0 material, our own footage, and film excerpts used for commentary are not listed.

TOP 4 OLDEST SWORDS: Before the Katana, Before the Samurai — Japan's Oldest Swords

Published 2026-08-08 · Watch on YouTube · 25 credited sources

A countdown of the four oldest surviving swords in Japan, ranked by when each blade was forged. All four were excavated from Kofun period burial mounds and all four carry an inscription cut into the metal.

Images from ColBase and from the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage have been cropped, reframed and animated for this video. Edited by History of Katana; not edited or endorsed by the Institutes. Source: ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan (https://colbase.nich.go.jp/)

ColBase, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage

Flower-form ring-pommel sword花形飾環頭大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/101448?locale=ja
Gold-inlaid inscribed ring-pommel sword金象嵌銘環頭大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/101447?locale=ja
House-form ring-pommel sword家形飾環頭大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/101451?locale=ja
Plain ring-pommel sword素環頭大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/101452?locale=ja
Plain ring-pommel sword素環頭大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/101453?locale=ja
corroded iron blade銀象嵌銘大刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/73720?locale=ja
corroded iron sword fragment白山藪古墳環頭大刀京都国立博物館 Kyoto National MuseumColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/kyohaku/18545?locale=ja
katana blade刀東京国立博物館ColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/52958?locale=ja
sword blade刀　金象嵌銘義弘本阿（花押）／本多美濃守所持京都国立博物館 Kyoto National MuseumColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/kyohaku/4375?locale=ja

Museum press materials

Inaridai Kofun, 1976 excavation市原市 / Ichihara CitySource credited; licence terms not confirmedhttps://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000191.000127749.html
museum gallery市原市 / Ichihara CitySource credited; licence terms not confirmedhttps://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000191.000127749.html

Wikimedia Commons

Eta Funayama sword spine, the 75 silver-inlaid characters銀象嵌銘大刀棟（銀象嵌75文字）国立文化財機構CC BY 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151570456
Eta Funayama sword, blade body (ColBase)銀象嵌銘大刀刀身国立文化財機構CC BY 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151570365
House-form ring pommel head (ColBase J-39138)家形飾環頭柄頭東京国立博物館CC BY 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=148678333
House-form ring pommel head, extract東大寺山古墳出土家形飾環頭大刀柄頭Saigen JiroCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141601131
Todaijiyama sword, TNM display (1)金象嵌銘大刀東京国立博物館展示KakidaiCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154901342
Todaijiyama sword, TNM display (2)金象嵌銘大刀東京国立博物館展示KakidaiCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154901475
corroded bronze blade weaponPHGCOMCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2340059
iron arrowheadsなまけもの人間CC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=151702124
katana bladeSamuraiantiqueworldCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13358250
o-yoroi armorAlkaliSoapsCC BY 2.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15967185
outline map of Japanuser:kallganCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=746210
raw steel bloom玉鋼さぱしあCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39858335
ring pommel国立文化財機構CC BY 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=157360488
tatara furnace cross-section三條千秋CC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52694474

HISTORY'S MOST DANGEROUS KATANA: Thirty-Six "Immortal" Poets, Thirty-Six Corpses — Kasen Kanesada

Published 2026-01-20 · Watch on YouTube · 6 credited sources

The Kokindenju No Tachi and the secret poetry transmission it is named for.

Wikimedia Commons

Eisei Bunko Main Building (photographed in 2014)Fraxinus2 - 投稿者自身による著作物CC 表示-継承 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32501610
Garden in front of the Phoenix Hall663highland - Own workCC BY 2.5https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6801920
Hosokawa Gyobu mansionMotoki-jj - Own workCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14688342
Jōdo-shiki garden663highland - Own workCC BY 2.5https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6801923
Left Side of Phoenix Hall663highland - Own workCC BY 2.5https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6801917
古今和歌集, Kokin Wakashū (Early waka poetry)Tokyo National MuseumPublic Domainhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11548732

HISTORY'S MOST DANGEROUS KATANA: Demon Dosetsu vs. The Lightning God — Raikiri "The Thunder Cutter"

Published 2025-12-22 · Watch on YouTube · 7 credited sources

Tachibana Dosetsu and the blade said to have cut a lightning god.

Wikimedia Commons

Comparison between the tangs (nakago) of a katana (left) and tachi (right)Worldantiques - Own workCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54469020
Former site of Yanagawa CastleOkztosh - Own workCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129026300
Haiden of Kagura Shrine Mount Kora小池隆 - Own workCC BY 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39158859
Raijin with drums on an earthenware vase. Meiji period, 19th centuryKhalili Foundation - Cropped from File:Khalili Collection Japanese Meiji Art S052.jpgCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97252084
Restored medieval garden of Yanagawa CastleOkztosh at Japanese Wikipedia - Own work by the original uploaderCC BY-SA 3.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21026351
Sasamuta JinjaSaigen Jiro - Own workCC0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28431409
Tachibana Miuneshige future head of the clanUtagawa YoshitoraPublic Domainhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37643321

HISTORY'S MOST DANGEROUS KATANA: The "Bone-Eater" Blade that Refused to Die — Honebami Toshiro

Published 2025-12-08 · Watch on YouTube · 5 credited sources

Honebami Toshiro, the Bone-Eater, and how it kept being given away.

ColBase, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage

Copy of the sword Honebami Toshiro, passed down in the Otomo clan and later held by Toyotomi HideyoshiTokyo National MuseumColBase Terms of Use (CC BY 4.0 compatible)https://colbase.nich.go.jp/collection_items/tnm/F-15802?locale=en

Wikimedia Commons

Golden Armor of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sunpu Castle Higashigomon exhibition room江戸村のとくぞうCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sunpu_Castle_Higashigomon_201015t.jpg
Iwakuni Art Museumそらみみ - Own workCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70085238
Sculpture of the god Raijin at Sanjusangen-doIsmoonCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raijin_in_Sanj%C5%ABsangen-d%C5%8D._Mid-13th_century.jpg
Tanto forged by Minamoto KiyomaroSLIMHANNYA - Own workCC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99093525