（Token Bijutsu No.562）

 

Nihon Koto Shi

(History of Koto)

 

By Dr. Honma Junji

 

 (16)

 

(P.10)

 

9. Oshu Swords

 

Old sword directories say that Oshu was inhabited by the  swordsmiths Yasufusa, Takeyasu, Fusho, Kiomaru, Garima, etc. in the Heian Period as well as Bunju who lived there in the Taiho Era (701-708). Considering that there were many battles in this area, such as ‘Zen-kunen-no-eki’ and ‘Go-sannen-no-eki’ when the Imperial Court sent their armies to Oshu to subjugate the Ezo (Japanese aborigines) and that the three generations of the Fujiwara family thrived in this area and established a distinguished culture. It is quite natural that many swordsmiths resided there and there was remarkable progress in sword forging techniques. Although, there are no extant work of the swordsmiths described above, there was a smith called Hoju who lived around Hiraizumi (castle city of the Fujiwara family) in the Kamakura Period and whose extant works have been confirmed. The name of this smith had been succeeded for several generations up to the early Muromachi Period. They left some tachi with dates like Shochu, Kenmu, Eitoku and Oei Eras (1324 – 1429). There are a few extant tachi by them on which workmanship looks older than the one with a date of the Shochu Era and the production date is speculated to be the middle of the Kamakura Period. Their workmanship is as follows; jihada is itame-hada combined with masame accompanied by dim chikei and jifu then stands out and looks coarse, hamon is ko-midare or midare based on gunome (they normally temper sugu-ha on tanto) then consists of nie accompanied by a subdued nioi-guchi and sunagashi are seen inside the hamon. Their workmanship looks unrefined on the whole. There is an interesting ken with an inscription of ‘Yamato no Kuni Ju Tohon Hoju’ and a date of the Enkei in the old Imperial collection.Possibly this ken is evidence that a branch school of Hoju of Oshu existed in Yamato Province. Alternatively the maker of the ken has nothing to do with them. This is a subject that has to be sorted out but it appears to be a very difficult task to find a solution since the ken does not show enough characteristics to reach a firm conclusion.

 

(Reference photos and oshigata)

Tachi Mei “HOJU” (Owned by the Tokyo National Museum)

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　“HOJUJ”

 

(P.11)

 

(Reference oshigata)

Ken Mei “YAMATO (NO) KUNI JU TOHON HOJU”

         “ENKEI 4 KANOTO I”

(Owned by the Tokyo National Museum)

 

(P.12)

 

10. Old Mino Smiths

 

Sword directories list up Tadaysohi, Tadato and Sensui as Akasaka smiths, and Tofuji and Nagamot as Nishigori smiths then the directories says that all the smiths lived in the Heian Period but their extant works have not been confirmed at all. The Akasaka smiths originally belonged to the Senjuin school of Yamato Province and moved to Mino Province. It is said that they became the founders of the Akasaka-Senjuin school. We can recognise the relation between Yamato and Mino smiths on their works after the Nambokucho Period, though, it is highly possible that they had already actual technical exchange between them before that. Tofuji is believed to have copied an heirloom of the Minamoto clan so-called ‘Hige-kiri’ but his extant work earlier than the late Nambokucho Period has not been confirmed.

 

There is an extant tachi with the inscription of ‘Mino no Kuni Tamekuni Tatematsuru’ which is dated, March in Jo’o 2 (1223). The blade has slender tachi-sugata, the jihada is dense ko-itame-hada, the jigane looks powerful, and the hamon is ko-midare although there is a possibility of old sai-ha (re-tempered). Though, Tamekuni is listed in no swordsmith directories or documents.

 

11. Yamato-den of Smiths from Hokuriku District

 

I already described that two master smiths, Yoshihiro and Norishige existed in Etchu Province of the Hokuriku District. It is said that a smith called ‘Nyudo Kunimitsu’ moved from Uda County of Yamato Province to Utsu of Etchu Province around the Bunpo Era (1317-1319) then became the founder of the Uda school. There is an extant tachi by Kunifusa with a date of Oei Era also  tachi of which production age is attributed to the Nambokucho Period. Also there is an extant tachi of Kunimitsu of which the production age is also attributed to the Nambokucho Period. Inferring from the workmanship of these three extant tachi, it can be said that Kunimitsu lived earlier than Kunifusa. Also a theory that Kunimitsu comes from Yamato Province is affirmed. Incidentally, Kunifusa and his descendants succeeded to the workmanships of Yoshihiro and Norishige.

 

1st Tomoshige who is sad to be the founder of the Fujishima school of Kaga Province was active at the end of the Kamakura Period. This theory is affirmed with a tachi owned by the Atsuta Shrine, that is to say, the blade has koshi-zori and funbari, the hamon is gunome mixed with ko-midare in nie-deki and sunagashi are seen inside the hamon, the nakago has wide tip in yama-gata shape then there is a mei in two of small characters on the haki-omote. Swordsmith directories say that the 1st Tomoshige was a student of Sanekage of the same province. 1st Tomoshige is not equal to Sanekage in skill but his active age may be earlier than Sanenaga (tachi with a date of the Joji Era exists). ‘Tensho Bon Mei Zukushi’ says that 1st Tomoshige was a student of Rai Kunitoshi but the tachi owned by the Atsuta Shrine shows a totally different workmanship from that of Rai Kunitoshi.

 

(P.12)

(Reference photos)

                     “TOSHIYASU”

“KUNISADA”

 

(P.13)

 

12. Yamashiro-den of Smiths from San’in District

 

A student of Rai Kunitoshi lived in Hata of Tanba Province and used the same smith name as his teacher. This smith is known as ‘Tanba Rai Kunitoshi’ of ‘Hata Kunitoshi’. There are some extant works of this smith and his workmanship is similar to that of Rai Kunitoshi of Yamashiro Province but the former is never equal to the latter in skill. The lineage of this smith has yet to be studied. Incidentally, it is speculated that forgers who made a speciality of fakes of Rai smiths existed between the end of the Muromachi and the beginning of the beginning of shinto times. Amongst them, Rai Kunitoshi is the most popular smith then followed by Niji Kunitoshi and Rai Kunitsugu. All these fakes show the same workmanship and chiselling style. It must be noted that these fakes are occasionally called ‘Tanba Rai’.

 

There is a smith called Kunisada who lived in Ayabe of Tanba Province around the Bun’ei Era and is said to be a student of Awataguchi Kuninobu (a student of Awataguchi Kuniyoshi). There are a few extant tachi of Kunisada with a signature. His jihada is beautiful and dense ko-itame-hada and hamon is ko-midare. They show a workmanship of Yamashiro-den as a whole and his active age of the Bun’ei Era (1264-1275) is to be affirmed.

 

In addition, there is a smith called Kagenaga who is nicknamed ‘Inaba Ko-kaji’. He is said to be a student of Awataguchi Yoshimasa (a student of Awataguchi Kuniyoshi) and the smith name was succeeded to for several generations. Swordsmith directories say that 1st Kagenaga was active in the Kagen Era and the second generation in the Kenmu Era. Though, his earliest work appears to be of the Kenmu Era, but inferring from his extant works with a signature, then a date of the Oei Era is the earliest one found on his extant work. He makes a slender tachi-sugata, forges ko-itame-hada and tempers hoso-sugu-ha in Yamashiro-den. Entering the Muromachi Period, Kagenaga begins to temper midare-ba too.

 

(Reference oshigata and photos)

                                   Juyo Bijutsu Hin : Tachi Mei “KUNISADA”

“INSHU JU KAGENAGA”