（Token Bijutsu No.567）
Nihon Koto Shi
(History of Koto)
By Dr. Honma Junji
(20)
(P.32)
15. Osafune Smiths
The term of ‘Osafune Smiths’ that I use here does not include all smiths who lived in Osafune Village of Bizen Province, that is to say, they are the smiths who belong to the big school that was founded by Mitsutada and his descendants which thrived through to the end of the Muromachi Period. The father of Mitsutada is said to be Chikatada but his extant work neither exists nor are there oshigata and inscriptions recorded in old swordsmith directories. It is believed that Mitsutada was active between the Hoji and Kenji Eras and his active age is confirmed by the extant works of Nagamitsu (who was a son of Mitsutada) with dates of Bun’ei and Koan Eras. Also there are extant works of Nagamitsu with dates of the Kagen Era. In addition to their workmanship, I guess that there are two generations of Nagamitsu. One theory says that the second generation added his title of ‘Sakon Shogen’ to his mei and was active from the Sho’o Era but this theory has yet to be studied fully. I have an impression that Nagamitsu, with dates of the Kagen Era, is the second generation inferring from the workmanship and the style of the mei. Mitsutada followed the forging style of the Fukuoka-Ichimonji school then added his own distinctive features to it. That is to say, he made grand tachi-sugata, tempered gorgeous o-choji midare mixed with juka-choji in relatively regular width then this workmanship was followed by Nagamitsu and his descendants. Mitsutada also forged fine and dense jihada with thick ji-nie that look like the workmanship of old Yamashiro swords and tempered a gentle midare-ba. It is a controversial subject that gorgeous choji-midare is only seen in his o-suriage-mumei swords (shortened katana without a signature) and his zaimei tachi (with signature) shows a calm workmanship that has closely resembles that of Nagamitsu. Considering these two different workmanships, some people insist that o-suriage-mumei Mitsutada is not really his work and tend to devaluate the reputation of Mitsutada. I came across upon a zaimei Mitsutada that belongs to the Imperial sword collection with the signature of ‘Bizen no Kuni Osafune Ju Mitsutada’ and realised that the tachi shows exactly the same workmanship as his o-suriage-mumei katana. This eventually solved the question about the two different workmanships of Mitsutada. The tachi looks like Nagamitsu at a glance, but the manner of the soft nioi-guchi, jigane and boshi are without doubt those of Mitsutada.
(Reference photos)
Juyo Bunka Zai : Tachi Mei “MITSUTADA”
(Owned by the
(P.33)
(Reference photos and oshigata)
Kokuho : Tachi Mei “NAGAMITSU”
(Nicknamed ‘Dai Hannya Nagamitsu’)
“MITSUTADA”
“MITSUTADA”
“BIZEN (NO) KUNI OSAFUNE MITSUTADA”
(P.34)
The smith name of Mistutada reminds us of gorgeous choji-midare immediately but there is a tachi on which the hamon is based on gunome that is often seen in the hamon of Kagemitsu and Chikakage. It used to be said that Nagamitsu was the first to start tempering gunome in the Osafune school, but it becomes clear that Mitsutada had already tempered gunome-midare.
Nagamitsu tempers togari-ba and kataochi-gunome in a regular pattern on his tanto. Meanwhile, he tempers gorgeous choji-midare mixed with sporadic togari-ba. When he tempers sugu-ha, the boshi becomes slackened sugu then turns back in ko-maru, the so-called sansaku-boshi which is also tempered by his followers. Interestingly this boshi is also seen in some swords of the Shoso-in Depository. According to the theory that there are two generations of Nagamitsu, the second generation Shogen Nagamitsu tempers hamon in a small pattern but there is a work of Shogen Nagamitsu with gorgeous choji-midare. On the other hand, there are works of Shogen Nagamitsu with dates of the Sho’o and Einin Eras. It seems to be too early to draw conclusions regarding the number of generations of Nagamitsu (one or two generations). Though, it can be said that his work with dates from the Sho’o Era shows a workmanship similar to that of his student. Meanwhile, his workmanship which is similar to that of Mitsutada has no production date. I suppose that swords with dates of the Kagen Era are the work of the second generation.
(Reference oshigata and photos)
“BIZEN (NO) KUNI OSAFUNE JU SAKON SHOGEN NAGAMITSU TSUKURU”
“NAGAMITSU”
“NAGAMITSU”
“KUMANO SANJO GONGEN NAGAMITSU”
Kokuho : Tachi Mei “NAGAMITSU”
(Owned by the
(P.35)
Kokuho : Tachi Mei “BIZEN (NO) KUNI OSAFUNE JU SAKON SHOGEN
NAGAMITSU TSUKURU”
(Owned by the
(P.36)
(Reference photos)
Kokuho : Naginata Mei “BIZEN (NO) KUNI OSAFUNE JUNIN NAGAMITSU
TSUKURU”
(Owned by the