The Search for the Legendary Kotetsu Sword of Shinsengumi Commander Kondo Isami : Part 1 (字幕）

The Shinsengumi were the famous last loyal squad of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Led by Kondo Isami and his second, Hijikata Toshizo, these brave young men gave their lives in the name of the Shogun. After the Ikedaya affair, they became an overnight sensation, and legend says that Kondo used a masterpiece Kotetsu sword in the incident. However, doubts persist as to whether it was a real Kotetsu, or one with a fake signature.
In this video, we follow in the footsteps of Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo and the Shinsengumi, and look at many of the items that they left behind, the places they frequented, and take a look at some of their swords. Will we discover Kondo's famous Kotetsu blade on our journey?
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Welcome to my KZbin Channel!
My name is Paul Martin and I am a Japanese sword specialist living in Tokyo, Japan. I want to share the beauty, spirituality, and history of Japanese swords and samurai (including all the various aspects of Japanese culture where they touch), sword and steel making, Noh, Kyogen, Kagura, Martial Arts, and so forth, with you ail here on KZbin! So please subscribe today!
I am a former curator in the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum, London, I have a Masters in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and am currently a Trustee for the Nihonto Bunka Shinko Kyokai Public Foundation (NBSK).
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I also work closely with many sword institutions in Japan, including the Nihon Bijitsu Token Hozon Kyokai (NBTHK), providing specialist translations for books and exhibitions. I am also a recognized specialist by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT:観光庁), and have my own regular column at JAPAN-Forward (Sankei Shinbun).
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I am also a Samurai Spirit Tourism Ambassador for the Tohoku Region
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The sword in Japan is not merely a weapon, it is a sublime piece of functional art, with deep spiritual and historical significance to the Japanese people. Just like Mount Fuji and Cherry Blossoms, the Japanese sword is an enduring symbol of Japan. It is my hope to share my love and passion for Japanese swords with all of you here on KZbin and make the Japanese sword accessible to the world by introducing the Japanese sword to new audi-ences from a Japanese perspective. That is why I created this Channel for the promotion and preservation of Japanese swords and related craftsmen.
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#TheJapaneseSword #katanasword #samurai #虎徹　＃近藤勇　＃近藤虎徹

[@michaelholton3448]

Thank You Paul. As always a fascinating journey. The only thing I could say is that the music was often times too loud and drowned out your voice.

[@user-ca31jdyheT]

This video is the best guide for any Shinsengumi fan who wants to visit historical sites of Shinsengumi. I would love to visit these places when I go to Japan for a holiday. The only thing is there should also be a musum for Okita Souji. Great video,

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Yes! Even the place he died is not marked correctly, and you cannot see his grave properly.

[@gf2390]

That was brilliant Paul . Thank you for your amazing work

[@MusashiSush1]

Fantastic job Paul! One suggestion would be to turn the music down a little especially when the woman is singing.

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately we are not the BBC or NHK, and we try our best to get the levels ok before the final upload, but it is KZbin, and it seems to vary on video to video and even viewer once it is out there.

[@SpeedBird132]

Great story about the Shinsengumi, thank you Paul!

[@stevenedmund5680]

thanks for once again sharing a great experience with us.

[@larrythomas3623]

Thank you very much, I admire your dedication.

[@TokyoSilver]

Thanks for once again sharing a great experience with us. Love & Create.

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thank you very much!

[@Lareon]

Great video paul, the tone is perfect

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thank you so much!!

[@Peekingduck]

Very interesting, thank you !

[@Tokyofreelance]

Good video. Nice pacing; helps someone like me who doesn’t know the subject so well.

[@ragetotheend]

awesome. thx for sharing.

[@rsxtypesmobbin8661]

It is very interesting that the Koutetsu has some of the same features as my hojoji sadakuni!And supposedly the hojoji school and the Koutetsu school had associations so it doesn't surprise me!Thankyou for the video!Great content As Usual!👌

[@templarjinaiwarriors]

Wonderfull job 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@warrennass24]

Great to see you back in the saddle Paul.

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thank you!!

[@konecho7792]

THANKYOU..

[@prabshiro]

Wheres part 2 Paul. Dying to see it

[@JavierGuzman-cs2lg]

An incredible video, it's a pity that the background music is so loud that it's hard to hear the narrative. Thank you !

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thank you. I think that the narration quality is quite poor. I am currently working on part two and noticed how poor it is. I will try to make it better in the next one.

[@BACCHUS777]

Great video, agree about the music volume levels. It is very distracting to the point it would be better to have none at all and just commentary.

[@prabshiro]

Quick question Paul, would the kotetsu sword be a national treasure? Or juyo token. Im guessing the value would be in the 100ks. Thanks. Fantastic documentary, would love to see more of this stuff

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

There are no Kotetsu National Treasures at the moment, but there are about 5 important Cultural Properties, and Juyo Token etc. If a Kotetsu without papers was discovered, it would probably end up going through the NBTHK first starting at Hozon/Tb Hozon joint Submission, and if successful then going onto Juyo/Tb-Juyo, etc. If it was genuine, and there was definitive proof it was Kondo's, I'm not sure these days how they would apply for Important Art Object/Cultural Property, etc. There are also many local government designations given out, like Hijikata Toshizo's 11th Gen. Kanesada.

[@PadishahEmperor]

Can you please name the songs used in this video Thank you

[@sarthnahr1123]

Whats the song at six minutes

[@Grace-sm6kw]

Hello Paul, I'm Grace a 23 year old female from South Africa. One morning I just woke up one morning and had a deep curiosity about japanese swords , ever since then I'm immensely interested in knowing more and bringing the Japanese culture to my chosen professional field . Please tell me where might be a good place to start learning about the Japanese swords . Ty 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Hi Grace, Sorry to be late responding. First thing would be to buy some books. I recommend some books not only on swords but Japanese language in one of my other videos. I think that there is also a South Africa Japanese Sword Association (Token Kai) but I know SA is huge and it might be far from you. Best of luck, and you can always contact me via FB or my homepage. We need more sword curators around the world!

[@user-yd4zm9hq2k]

신선조에 관한이야기군요 2대국장 곤도이사미에 대해서도 자세히 나오고~

[@outboundflight4455]

It mustve been absolutely facinating to hold that piece of history.

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

It was. Holding the same things as famous historical figures is very exciting!

[@outboundflight4455]

@@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword it would be a very cool video series if you did this with other nihonto used by famous figures of different periods. This was a priceless one Paul!

[@DavidGrieshaber]

When is Part 2 coming out?

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Hopefully June!

[@calebmosteiro6956]

I just recently got into collecting Japanese katanas and was wondering where could I find authentic katanas

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

What country are you in?

[@theoriginalmikaveli]

I read that Isami Kondo also owned other swords (including a Terukado) - but I've been unable to find any direct references - is there a good source of documentation as to what he owned / used?

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

There will be more swords in the next episode.

[@theoriginalmikaveli]

@@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword thanks, I'll look forward to it.

[@novrinkov0053]

1,長曽祢興里入道虎徹(nagasone kotetsu) 2,陸奥大掾三善長道(mutsu daijo miyoshi nagamichi aka aizu-kotetsu) 3,播州藤原宗貞(banshu fujiwara munesada) 4,三善道長(miyoshi michinaga)

[@ibuurann929]

日本には侍、忍者（男）、くのいち（女）存在していました。見たこと無いけど♫伝統的な刀鍛冶と素材は現代でも生きて居るけど…現在は居ません〆『チョンマゲ』が子供に人気(笑)になりマンガがアニメとして日本文化なった要因かと思います(^^♪　本人は真剣に武士道に精進していた時代と思います。チョンマゲの由来は戦国時代、長い戦いで髪が伸び兜を被り戦（イクサ）して頭が蒸れる事により剃る事にした。武将ならではの意気込みが侍となった。

[@gbvoul]

the sword used to kill Sakamoto Ryoma?

[@HI-cc6jf]

前川邸って入ることができたんですね。。。。

[@nicolaslopez2662]

ブエノスアイレスからのご挨拶！

[@Paul_Martin_The_Japanese_Sword]

Thank you! And Welcome!!

[@AngloSaxon1]

I thought the Shinsengumi were part of the "get foreigners out of japan" movement.

[@florinaslan5482]

Wasn't the kotetsu sword a fake

[@novrinkov0053]

Not all theories have been proven Could be real or could be fake. There is no doubt that it was a good sword because it was used in battles where life or death battle.

[@luisfelipesilvasampaio7922]

That is not Kondo´s Kotetsu! The Aizu Kotetsu is not a true kotetsu!! The real Kotetsu is Nagasone Okisato Nyudo Kotetsu(signature: 長曽祢興里入道乕徹) and he produced swords from around the middle 1650´s to late 1670`s!!! Kondo´s Kotetsu has a very controversial history and no one knows for sure where it is or even if it was a true Nagasone Okisato Nyudo Kotetsu!!! 3 theories exist about his Kotetsu: 1: He got it as a gift from the Kanoike clan after he saved the clans house from a band of robbers. 2: He got the sword along with other members of the Shinsengumi from the Shogunate when the force was formed. 3: It is a fake kotetsu that he got from a shop in Kyoto. Those 3 theories are very likely however like i said, no one knows for sure! A Nagasone Kotetsu that belonged to Kaneko Kentaro was recently found and it is believed to have been Kondo´s sword! It appears at the begining of the video in a red background! But even that one can not be confirmed!!!

[@novrinkov0053]

Yea 陸奥大掾三善長道(miyoshi nagamichi aka aizu-kotetsu) It was nicknamed so because it resembled a kotetsu(hanetora era) Kondo liked this sword because it resembled a kotetsu.

[@chinoukenji]

生まれ出る所は早や死の始めにて、死すれば大界我が心の儘成り。之兵法第一の心得成り。各々己の正死を計らず、唯役目を全うすべし。ハタチ過ぎたら生き過ぎ成り。老いの生き恥を晒すべからず。之より死中に突入す。我に続け！長尾景虎十四歳、初陣出撃の際、四方数里に響き渡った訓示である。二の刀を継がず。唯此の一刀にのみ決すべし。土方歳三は、多摩の農民ではなく商人であり、近藤勇を担いではいましたが、己の教師は上杉謙信でした。歳三からしたら、景虎は５００年も前の人。我々は５００年前の人物を模範と仰いで人生を駆け抜ける情熱があるだろうか？それだけの文献を読破して己の魂に落として学ぶ知能があるだろうか？私たちが、羨むべきは、歳三の生き様＝死に様であると思います。

[@luisfelipesilvasampaio7922]

Kondo´s kotetsu is believed to be a fake!! Real kotetsu blades were owned by Katsura Kogoro, Katsu Kaishu and Yamaoka Tessyu!!!!

[@novrinkov0053]

Not all theories have been proven Could be real or could be fake. There is no doubt that it was a good sword because it was used in battles where life or death battle.