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Locationmajor

Komatsu Forge

Komatsu Forge is one of the most important settlements in southern Tsushima.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • Komatsu Forge is in Izuhara, in the Komatsu area, close to the boundary with Tsutsu. Sources differ on whether the settlement is described as lying in Komatsu Prefecture or on the Komatsu-Tsutsu border, so this guide treats the named town as the main scope rather than assigning every surrounding landmark to it.
  • The town’s central story event is Hammer and Forge, a Jin’s Journey tale in Act 1. It becomes available after the relevant early recruitment tales, including The Broken Blacksmith and The Tale of Sensei Ishikawa.
  • Completing The Iron Hook at Komatsu Forge permanently liberates the settlement and awards the Grappling Hook as well as a Major Legend increase.
  • After liberation, Komatsu Forge contains a Swordsmith, Armorer, Merchant and Trapper. These are functional vendors, not merely decorative buildings.
  • The town contains the Komatsu Bamboo Strike, a Pillar of Honor, a Sashimono Banner exchange with Genzo, and the optional Forgemaster’s Headband.
  • The wider surroundings contain separate locations, including nearby roads, a fox den and other regional activities. They should not automatically be counted as part of Komatsu Forge itself.

About this guide

Scope: Base game, including the Director’s Cut version of the base-island campaign. Iki Island and Legends mode are excluded. Spoiler warning: This guide discusses the Act 1 tales Hammer and Forge and The Iron Hook, the liberation state of Komatsu Forge, and several optional collectibles.

Overview

Komatsu Forge is one of the most important settlements in southern Tsushima. It begins as a Mongol-held town and becomes a permanent safe settlement after Jin completes Hammer and Forge. The location is both a practical hub, with several vendors and a Sashimono Banner exchange, and a major story site where Taka resumes his work as a blacksmith and the player later receives the grappling hook.

The forge is easy to mistake for a simple Mongol territory marker, particularly if you visit before the story sends Jin there. Its enemies and story events are progression-controlled, so arriving early does not necessarily produce a conventional enemy camp encounter. The settlement’s most useful optional reward, the Forgemaster’s Headband, is also easy to miss because it is above the swordsmith’s building rather than at ground level.

Overview and boundaries

Komatsu Forge is a working industrial settlement built around a prominent smithing complex. Its identity comes from the relationship between the forge, the surrounding homes and work yards, the river crossing, and the people who depend on Taka’s craft. It is larger and more functionally important than a minor farmstead, but it is not a whole prefecture or a general name for every activity in the surrounding countryside.

The game’s location labels and guide sources place Komatsu Forge in Izuhara, east of the Golden Temple and near the transition between the Komatsu and Tsutsu areas. One location reference describes it as being on the border between Komatsu Prefecture and Tsutsu Prefecture, while map guides generally present Komatsu Forge as a settlement in the Komatsu area. The safest interpretation is that Komatsu Forge is the named town, while nearby natural features and activities should be listed separately unless they are clearly inside the settlement.

Included named areas and facilities

The following names are directly associated with the settlement or its immediate town complex:

Some guides use functional descriptions rather than unique in-game proper names for buildings. Where the game does not provide a separate displayed name, this guide keeps the practical description instead of inventing one.

Nearby but separate locations

The following should not be treated as buildings or subareas within the forge unless a particular mission objective explicitly uses them:

The Komatsu-region Pillar of Honor is commonly listed as the Komatsu pillar and awards the Spring Bamboo sword kit. That regional association does not prove that every nearby landmark belongs to the town itself.

Included named areas and facilities

Nearby but separate locations

Access and progression

Reaching the town before the story

Jin can travel towards Komatsu Forge relatively early, but the settlement is not fully functional at that point. Players who arrive before the associated tale may see the town marker or guiding bird without finding the expected Mongol force or story characters. This is a progression state rather than reliable evidence that the settlement has already been cleared.

The story-driven encounter is tied to Hammer and Forge. Guides list the tale as an Act 1 Jin’s Journey mission connected to Yuna and Taka, with its objective beginning at Komatsu Forge.

Story route

The precise order in which a player completes optional tales can vary, but the important distinction is that Hammer and Forge is the town’s principal liberation story, while The Iron Hook uses the liberated settlement as the starting point for a later equipment unlock.

Story route: A practical early-game route is

  1. 01
    Complete the initial rescue and recruitment missions that open Jin’s wider Act 1 objectives.
  2. 02
    Complete The Broken Blacksmith, which establishes Taka’s importance to the resistance.
  3. 03
    Complete the relevant early character tale requirements, including the first tale for Sensei Ishikawa.
  4. 04
    Begin Hammer and Forge when it appears.
  5. 05
    Travel to Komatsu Forge and complete its rescue and combat objectives.
  6. 06
    Later, after the required Act 1 tales, begin The Iron Hook at the forge.
  7. 07
    Complete The Iron Hook to receive the Grappling Hook and finish the settlement’s main liberation sequence.

Hammer and Forge

Hammer and Forge is the tale that brings the settlement into the main narrative. Its premise is that Yuna and Taka have travelled to Komatsu Forge so that Taka can resume his work as a blacksmith. The town is not a neutral refuge when Jin arrives. It is occupied, and the mission turns the forge from a hostile story location into a rescued settlement.

The mission’s listed reward is a Major Legend increase. It also changes the narrative status of Taka and establishes Komatsu Forge as a place Jin can return to rather than a one-off combat arena.

Combat advice

The town’s structures provide useful opportunities for stealth, especially before the mission’s fighting becomes unavoidable. Move through the outer approaches first and avoid committing to the central yard until the objective requires it. Once the rescue sequence begins, the most reliable approach is to use the settlement’s lanes and walls to separate enemies rather than fighting the whole group in the open.

The mission is designed for early Act 1, so the main difficulty comes from enemy numbers and restricted movement rather than elite mechanics. Water Stance is useful against shielded Mongols, while archery and kunai can thin groups before a direct engagement. These are general combat recommendations rather than unique Komatsu Forge mechanics.

The broad mission sequence is

  1. 01
    Travel to Komatsu Forge.
  2. 02
    Find a way into the town.
  3. 03
    Search for Yuna and Taka.
  4. 04
    Investigate the nearby fighting.
  5. 05
    Defeat the Mongol force.
  6. 06
    Speak with Yuna.
  7. 07
    Follow Yuna through the settlement.
  8. 08
    Find Yukio.
  9. 09
    Help Yukio rescue his wife.
  10. 10
    Rescue the captured peasants.
  11. 11
    Speak with the survivors and complete the tale.

The Iron Hook and the Grappling Hook

The Iron Hook is the second major tale associated with Komatsu Forge. It becomes available after the required early story missions, including Hammer and Forge, and awards the Grappling Hook. The hook is not an optional town purchase. It is a story-gated tool given to Jin by Taka.

The tale begins with Jin meeting Yuna at Komatsu Forge and then travelling onwards towards Fort Yatate. Its importance extends beyond the settlement because the Grappling Hook opens new traversal routes across Tsushima, including grapple points, suspended platforms and certain mission paths.

Although the Grappling Hook is obtained during the larger mission, Komatsu Forge is the essential preparation and hand-off point. Complete this tale before spending time trying to reach grapple-only ledges around the island.

The principal progression is

  1. 01
    Meet Yuna at Komatsu Forge.
  2. 02
    Reconnect with the Straw Hats.
  3. 03
    Follow the mission route towards Fort Yatate.
  4. 04
    Use the Grappling Hook during the assault sequence.
  5. 05
    Complete the tale to receive the associated Legend reward.

Town services

After the settlement is liberated, Komatsu Forge becomes one of the most useful early hubs in Izuhara. Guides independently identify four practical vendors in the town: a Swordsmith, Armorer, Merchant and Trapper.

Swordsmith

The Swordsmith upgrades Jin’s katana and tanto in exchange for supplies and weapon materials. The forge itself is the obvious setting for this service, but the vendor is also significant because the building contains the optional Forgemaster’s Headband route described below.

The Swordsmith does not perform bow upgrades. Bow upgrades are associated with a Bowyer, which is not one of the confirmed Komatsu Forge services in the cited vendor lists.

Armorer

The Armorer upgrades Jin’s armour and provides armour-related improvement services. This is a functional vendor, not simply an NPC standing near the settlement’s work areas.

The Armorer becomes available as part of the liberated settlement’s permanent facilities.

Merchant

The Merchant provides purchases and cosmetic or material-related services according to the normal merchant system. Do not assume that every object resembling a stall is a separate shop. The confirmed functional merchant is the named vendor encountered after liberation.

Trapper

The Trapper trades in materials and ammunition-capacity upgrades according to the game’s general Trapper system. Guides identify a Trapper at Komatsu Forge, but the exact stock can vary by progression and available resources. The existence of the vendor should not be confused with a guarantee that every material is available at every stage.

Genzo and the Sashimono Banner exchange

After liberation, Komatsu Forge contains a dojo-like building in the southern-western part of the settlement. Genzo can be found there, and he handles Sashimono Banner exchanges for saddle kits.

This makes the building more than scenery. It is a collection turn-in point for a specific open-world collectible. Guides report that Genzo provides saddle kits in exchange for collected Sashimono Banners, with different saddle rewards becoming available as the player brings in more banners. The same area also contains the record To Genzo in Komatsu Forge.

The banners are collected throughout Tsushima, so they are not all Komatsu Forge collectibles. The forge is the exchange point, not the source of the complete banner set.

Collectibles and optional rewards

Forgemaster’s Headband

The Forgemaster’s Headband is one of Komatsu Forge’s most commonly missed rewards. It is placed above and inside the upper structure of the forge rather than on a normal shop counter.

The item’s description identifies it as a headband associated with the workers of Komatsu’s famous forge. A Golden Bird can guide Jin towards the location, but it may appear to lead only to the Swordsmith’s building because the reward is above the vendor’s normal position.

This is vanity gear. It does not function as a separate armour set or provide a combat effect.

Komatsu Bamboo Strike

The Komatsu Bamboo Strike is located in the settlement courtyard. Completing it increases Jin’s Resolve capacity by one increment, following the normal Bamboo Strike rules.

Its placement makes it convenient to complete immediately after the town is liberated. If the marker is not obvious, search the open courtyard near the residential and workshop buildings rather than the upper roofline.

Komatsu Pillar of Honor

The Komatsu Pillar of Honor provides the Spring Bamboo sword kit. Pillars of Honor are vanity-gear collectibles used to change the appearance of Jin’s sword. The Komatsu pillar is listed among the Izuhara pillars and is not missable in the broad sense, because the game allows players to return and collect Pillars of Honor later.

The pillar is best treated as a Komatsu-region collectible rather than proof that every nearby landscape feature lies within the built-up forge boundary.

Forgemaster’s Headband: The route is

  1. 01
    Go to the Swordsmith’s forge building.
  2. 02
    Climb onto the upper roof using the nearby climbable structure.
  3. 03
    Move across the roof towards the opening.
  4. 04
    Drop through the hole into the upper interior.
  5. 05
    Traverse the wooden beam.
  6. 06
    Collect the headband.

Characters and residents

Taka

Taka is the settlement’s most important story-associated resident. He is a blacksmith whose work becomes central to Jin’s campaign. Komatsu Forge gives him a place to practise his craft after the events of The Broken Blacksmith, and the town’s forge is closely tied to his role in the resistance.

Taka is not simply a permanent vendor. His presence and availability change according to the main story, particularly across the progression from Hammer and Forge to The Iron Hook.

Yuna

Yuna is the main character who brings Jin into the Komatsu Forge story. She is present during the rescue and remains strongly associated with the town’s early narrative sequence. Her role is that of a story companion and mission participant, not a town vendor.

Yukio

Yukio is a named local encountered during Hammer and Forge. Jin helps him during the rescue sequence, including the attempt to save Yukio’s wife and other peasants. Yukio’s importance is concentrated in the mission rather than in a permanent service role.

Genzo

Genzo is associated with the dojo and the Sashimono Banner exchange. Unlike Yukio, he remains useful after the main liberation sequence because he provides a repeatable collection turn-in service.

Named-character directory

The game does not provide a fully named census of every civilian in the settlement. Unnamed smiths, peasants, refugees and townspeople should therefore not be given invented names or treated as individually documented residents.

Named-character directory

NameDetails
Takablacksmith and story character
Yunacompanion and story character
Yukiolocal involved in Hammer and Forge
GenzoSashimono Banner and saddle-kit exchange

Enemies and security

Before liberation, Komatsu Forge is associated with Mongol occupation. During Hammer and Forge, the enemies are part of the scripted tale encounter rather than a normal repeatable patrol camp with a separately documented boss.

There is no confirmed named boss unique to Komatsu Forge. The principal opposition is the Mongol force occupying the town and holding its people. Once the settlement has been liberated, it functions as a safe hub rather than a permanently hostile enemy camp.

Security states

Players who enter early and find the town apparently empty should not automatically assume the game is broken. The encounter is tied to the relevant mission state, and several guides and player reports identify this as a progression-related behaviour.

Security states

Progression stateTown condition
Before the story reaches the townAccessible in the world, but expected enemies and story events may not be active
During Hammer and ForgeScripted Mongol occupation and rescue objectives
After Hammer and ForgeRescued settlement, with Taka and other story characters available according to progression
After The Iron HookFully established early-game hub with confirmed vendor and collection services

Recommended exploration route

For a clean first visit, use this order:

This route avoids the common mistake of following the Golden Bird to the Swordsmith, finding no item at ground level, and assuming that the reward is inaccessible or bugged.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Enter through the main approach. During the story, follow the mission objective rather than trying to clear the town as though it were an ordinary outpost.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Complete Hammer and Forge. Rescue the townspeople and finish the Mongol encounter.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Use the vendors. Check the Swordsmith, Armorer, Merchant and Trapper once they become available.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Visit Genzo. Turn in Sashimono Banners if you have collected enough for a saddle kit.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Complete the Komatsu Bamboo Strike. This permanently improves Resolve capacity.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Collect the Forgemaster’s Headband. Climb the Swordsmith’s building and enter through the roof opening.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Find the Komatsu Pillar of Honor. Collect Spring Bamboo if you are completing vanity gear.

Recommended exploration route: steps

  1. 01
    Return for The Iron Hook. Make sure the required Act 1 tales are complete, then begin the Grappling Hook mission from the settlement.

Progression changes and missability

Komatsu Forge is not a permanently missable settlement. Its major services and collectibles remain available after the main story sequence, and Pillars of Honor are not missable according to the cited collectible guide.

No reliable source reviewed here establishes a unique, permanent missability trigger for the headband, Bamboo Strike, Pillar of Honor or vendor services. They should therefore be treated as returnable open-world content rather than one-time mission rewards.

Lore and significance

Komatsu Forge represents one of the game’s clearest transitions from survival to organised resistance. Taka’s blacksmithing gives the settlement a practical role in the war, while Genzo’s banner exchange links the town to the wider history of Tsushima’s samurai clans. The location’s story is therefore not only about freeing a town. It is about restoring production, cooperation and continuity after the invasion.

The forge also reinforces one of the game’s recurring contrasts: a place built around disciplined craft becomes a battlefield, then returns to civilian use. The town’s post-liberation services make that change mechanically visible. Before liberation, Jin is trying to rescue its people. Afterwards, he returns to improve weapons, exchange banners, increase his Resolve and prepare for the next stage of the campaign.

Sources