（Token Bijutsu No.554）

Nihon Koto Shi

(History of Koto)

By Dr. Honma Junji

(8)

(P.20)

2. Gyo-saku

Swords tempered by Gotoba In (retired Emperor Gotoba) are called ‘Gyo-saku’ or ‘Kiku-saku’. Kiku-saku is derived from the family crest of chrysanthemum with 16 or 24 petals engraved in the habaki area of the nakago in ke-bori. There are several extant works and all of them are tachi. They have narrow mi-haba and beautiful tachi-sugata. There are two different workmanships of Yamashiro and Bizen styles. The one in Yamashiro style resembles to the work of the Awataguchi school tempering sugu-ha and forging much finer jihada than that of Bizen style. The other in Bizen style resembles to the work of the Ko-Ichimonji school but the start of the hamon tends to be yaki-otoshi then mizukage appears on the ji and the hamon consists of subdued nioi accompanied with a little weak nioi-guchi. It is interesting to know that there are some Bizen swords of the Kamakura Period that has a kiku-mon and a smith name on the nakago. I suppose that they were made by the Imperial order.

(P.21)

(Reference oshigata)

“KUNIYASU” “HISAKUNI”

“HISAKUNI”

“ARIKUNI”

“HISAKUNI”

3. Awataguchi

‘Uji Jui Monogatari’ says that swordsmiths lived in a corner of Awataguchi in Kyoto. The Awataguchi school had produced more than ten master smiths between the early and the middle of the Kamakura Periods and they built up a solid reputation. The smiths of the Awataguchi school are as follows ; the six brothers of Kunitomo, Hisakuni, Kuniyasu, Kunikiyo, Arikuni and Kunitsuna (the first three smiths are the members of Gotoba In Goban Kaji), Norikuni who is a son of Kunitomo, Kuniyoshi and Kunimitsu who are sons of Norikuni, and Yoshimitsu who is a student of Kuniyoshi. Kunitomo and Hisakuni are the oldest smiths and Kunitsuna is the youngest amongst the six brothers. Amongst all smiths of the Awataguchi school, Yoshimitsu is a little younger than Kuniyoshi who left extant works of tanto with the dates of the Shogen and Koan Eras. Hisakuni is the most skilful smith in the school then followed by Kuniyoshi and Yoshimitsu. Though, this estimation would have to be reconsidered if famous tachi by Yoshimitsu and nicknamed ‘Ichigo Ichie’ were not sai-ha or re-tempered (the tachi was one of the sword collection of Toyotomi Hideyoshi).

Three are two tachi-sugata of the Awataguchi school, one is in the Sanjo school style and the other in tachi-sugata with slight saki-zori. Later smiths of the school make sugata that has wide mi-haba and ikubi-kissaki (when bo-hi is carved on the shinogi-ji). Kuniyoshi and Yoshimitsu occasionally make tanto-sugata with wide mi-haba and extended ha-watari.

Their jihada is dense and fine ko-itame-hada then becomes nashi-ji-hada in company with abundant ji-nie and jigane is extremely clear and looks very beautiful. They temper sugu-ha and ko-midare in ko-nie-deki. They favoured to make tanto with sugu-ha very much. In addition, A hataraki of niju-ba is conspicuous in the works of Kuniyoshi and Yoshimitsu then their hamon reminds us of the sugu-ha of Shoso-in swords.

Kunitsuna demonstrates a peculiar workmanship amongst Awataguchi smiths. Taking a look at meibutsu ‘Oni-maru Kunitsuna’, itame-hada stands out and hamon is wide ko-midare with koshi-ba. The blade looks powerful and wild differing from the elegance of Yamashiro swords. Old swordsmith directories say that Kunitsuna moved to Kamakura and became the founder of Kamakura smiths. I have examined an o-dachi with the inscription of ‘Kencho 5 Nen Kamakura Kunitsuna’, which had been inherited by the Uesugi family. This tachi is superior to Oni-maru Kunitsuna in the quality of ji and ha but I am sceptical about the signature.

(Reference oshigata)

“YOSHIMITSU”

(Ichigo Ichie)

“YOSHIMITSU”

“YOSHIMITSU”

(Hirano Toshiro)

“KUNIMITSU”

“KUNIYOSHI”

“KUNIYOSHI”

“SAHYOE (NO) JO FUJIWARA (NO) KUNIYOSHI”

(Naki-gitsune)

“NORIKUNI”

“KUNIKIYO”

(P.22)

(Reference photos)

Imperial Collection : Tachi Mei “KUNITSUNA”

(Meibutsu ‘Oni-maru Kunitsuna’ owned by the Imperial Household Agency)

(P.23)

(Reference photos)

Juyo Bunka Zai : Katana Mei “SAHYOE (NO) JO FUJIWARA (NO) KUNIYOSHI”

(Nicknamed ‘Naki-gitsune’ owned by the Tokyo National Museum)

(P.24)

(Reference photos)

Imperial Collection : Katana (gaku-mei) “YOSHIMITSU”

(Meibutsu ‘Ichigo Ichie’ owned by the Imperial Household Agency)