（Token Bijutsu No.596）

Nihon Koto Shi

(History of Koto)”

By Dr. Honma Junji

(41)

(P.32)

20. Swordsmiths of Nankai District

Swordsmith directories say that Swordsmiths existed in the provinces of the Nankai District too. Though, only Iruka of Kii Province, Kaifu of Awa Province and Tosa Yoshimitsu of Tosa Province formed conspicuous groups that we can call them a school. A sword directory says that more than ten descendants of Sanetsuna who was active around the Jowa and Bunwa Eras had been active in the Muromachi Period. I have seen katana and tanto by Satsutsuna, Sanetsugu and Sanehiro without production dates, and it is speculated that they were active from the Nambokucho to the early Muromachi Period. Their jihada is pure masame-hada which reminds one of their connection with the Hosho school of Yamato Province. ‘Kokon Mei Zukushi’ lists smiths names of Sanetsune, Sanetsugu, Hiroyasu and Sanemori who were active around the Kenpo Era but the Hosho school did not yet exist at the beginning of the Kamakura Period.

According to ‘Koto Mei Zukushi’, the founder of the Kaifu school is Kaifu Taro Ujiyoshi who is said to have been active in the Koreki Era, but I have never seen his extant work yet. All of extant works by Ujiyoshi and Yasunaga which we can see today, are the works of the Muromachi Period. There is an extant tanto by Ujishige who has nothing to do with above smiths. The hamon of the tanto is hoso-sugu-ha, jihada is dense ko-itame-hada with shirake-utsuri, and the horimono of bonji and ken are carved on the omote with a pair of chopsticks on the ura. In addition, there is an independent smith with a mei of ‘Fuji’. He is said to be a smith related the Naminohira school but there seems to be no extant work of him. There is an extant work of Morohisa with a mei of ‘Ashu Miyai Ju’ and the production date of Oei 4 (1397). He is said to be a son of Morohisa. They are also included in the Kaifu school.

(Oshigata)

Juyo Token : Tanto Mei “ASHU JU UJISHIGE”

“IRUKA SANETSUGU” “SANEHIRO”

(P.33)

21. Tosa Yoshimitsu

Swordsmith directories say that a swordsmith called Yoshimitsu, who was related to the Tegai school of Yamato Province lived in Tosa Province around the Tokuji Era of the Kamakura Period. His second generation was active in the Jowa Era and followed by the third and fourth generations. Tosa Yoshimitsu in the Muromachi Period makes relatively small tanto with very thick kasane and tempers sugu-ha then forges jihada combined with masame and the jigane looks whitish. There are few extant works of Tosa Yoshimitsu before the Muromachi Period. There is a ko-dachi with the mei of Yoshimitsu and a production date of Ko-o Era, of which jihad combines masame and the hamon is ko-gunome. Also there is a tachi with a production date of the Shoan Era, of which hamon is ko-midare and jihada is standing-out itame-hada. The workmanships of above two swords are totally different from that of the later Yoshimitsu in the Muromachi Period. It is speculated that they belong to another school.

5. Muromachi Period

1. The Outline of the Muromachi Period

The Muromachi Period overwhelms the Kamakura Period in the output of Japanese swords and swordsmiths existed all over the country. Swordsmiths of the beginning of the Muromachi Period are not inferior in skill to those of the end of the Nambokucho Period. Though, a large quantity of swords were produced to export to China in this period and Japan entered the Age of Civil Wars, soon then a harmful effect of mass-production was brought in the sword industry. These mass-produced swords became to be called ‘Kazu-uchi-mono’ in the middle of the Muromachi Period, and Osafune smiths of Bizen Province were the main producers of kazu-uchi-mono. I found the term ‘Taba-gatana’ in a document written at the end of the Sengoku Period. This term has the same meaning as kazu-uchi-mono. Yamato Province follows Bizen Province in the number of smiths who engaged in producing mass-produced swords, also a lot of Sue-Seki engaged in the mass-production. Somehow, many skilful smiths come from Mino Province in early Shinto times, then employed Mino-den in Sue-Seki style. Meanwhile, elaborately made swords are called ‘Chumon-uchi’. They have been highly appreciated and the names of owners are often found on their nakago. The names and addresses of the smiths are added to their mei too.

A term of Goka-den became to be used since the Edo Period. It means of the five basic forging methods or workmanships of Yamashiro, Yamato, Sagami, Mino and Bizen smiths. In studying the Japanese sword, it is very useful to understand Goka-den since there are so many swords made according to these basic workmanships. However, there are also many smiths who demonstrate an individual workmanship and so it is not an appropriate way of thinking that all smiths follow Goka-den in their sword forging. There is a term of ‘Sue-mono’ for swords made after the middle of the Muromachi Period. Generally speaking, sue-mono does not show conspicuous characteristics or their localities. Few Yamashiro smiths of this period demonstrate Yamashiro-den and some Osafune smiths employ the forging methods of other traditions. Also Yamato and Soshu smiths often temper their hamon in nioi-deki.

Tachi and koshi-gatana (tanto) had been the swords of bushi (warriors) from the period of the Shoso In Depository and the Nambokucho period. I have already mentioned about the changes of Tachi and koshi-gatana. Tachi was slung from the belt with the edge toward the ground also o-dachi of the Nambokucho Period was shouldered on the back. This wearing style of tachi changed to that of katana style in the Muromachi Period. The wearing style of tachi was still employed by many bushi in early Muromachi Period but it came to be abolished completely in the middle of the Muromachi Period. Uchigatana were worn with the edge up in the opposition direction to the wearing style of tachi. That is to say, katana was thrust into the belt directly.

(Oshigata)

“ASHU JU UJIFUSA”

(P.34)

Uchigatana normally have short ha-watari and shallow sori in comparison to tachi and it must be easy to handle in practical use and be well-balanced, though, uchigatana are inferior to tachi in the elegance of sugata. Shinto smiths after the Keicho Era occasionally made tachi but their sugata is not so elegant as one made in koto times. It may be one of reasons that the demand for tachi abruptly decreased entering the Edo Period. Meanwhile, the term of uchigatana already existed in the Kamakura Period but they have shorter ha-watari and they are the ones called wakizashi by today’s criteria. It is speculated that uchigatana of the Kamakura Period were used by low-class warriors.

Entering the Muromachi Period, samurai came to wear a short sword of which ha-watari is over 40 cm. and under 60 cm. This is the so-called wakizashi and was worn with the katana. This wearing of a pair of swords was kept by the samurai until the Edo Period and the pair of swords came to be called ‘Daisho’. Many wakizashi and tanto in various sugata were made in the Muromachi Period and used as a sho of a pair of daisho, though the tanto of the Muromachi Period is inferior to that of the Kamakura Period. Incidentally, we occasionally see short tanto with thick kasane, which were made in the late Kamakura Period and are called ‘Yoroi-doshi’. In fact there are extant tanto made by Bungo Yukihira, Hatakeda Morichika, Awataguchi Yoshimitsu, Shintogo Kunimitsu and Osafune Chogi in the end of the Heian and the Kamakura Periods, which have a close resemblance to Yoroi-doshi in sugata. Naginata with much fukura or bulky monouchi and deep saki-zori and ken with a wide head were in fashion in this period. Yari that had been hardly seen in the former period became popular also up to the beginning of the Edo Period.

Swords produced in the Muromachi Period are inferior to others of koto times in quality. On the other hand, it is very interesting to know that the academic research of sword appraisal or kantei started in this period. ‘Masu Kagami’ says that Emperor Gotoba was very familiar with sword appraisal and more knowledgeable than sword experts. He often showed his expertise before his subjects. Inferring from this inscription, we can recognise that kantei was already practised in the early Kamakura Period. The oldest sword book is the one called “Nanto-in On Hizo Bon ………” written on the 1^st of December in Oei 3 (1396).

This book is kept in the Ueno Branch Library of the National Parliament Library but was originally owned by a branch temple of the Toji Temple called ‘Kanchi In’ then it is also called ‘Kanchi In Mei Zukushi’. It has another name ‘Showa Mei Zukushi’ since it is believed to have been written during the Showa Era. The oldest sword book is a copy of this swordsmith dictionary written in 1396. This kind of copy was made in the Oei Era and it proves that serious research of Japanese swords was already practised at this time. There is another famous sword book called ‘Habon Kokon Mei Zukushi’ that was published around the Manji Era of the early Edo Period and reprinted many times. There are more sword books like ‘Keizu Hidan Sho’ written by Utsunomiya Mikawa Nyudo who served for shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Takeya Rian published a revised edition of ‘Keizu Hidan Sho’ with the title of ‘Hiden Sho’. ‘Kokon Mei Zukushi’ was actually published in the Edo Period but its original already existed in the Muromachi Period. It is speculated that the kantei of the Hon-ami school comes from the lineage of Utsunomiya Mikawa Nyudo and Takeya Rian. Incidentally the oldest sword book by the Hon-ami school is the one called ‘Katana Ezu’ written by Hon-ami Koshin in February, 1556.