Issue Number 622
Meito
Kansho
Examination
of important swords
Classification: Juyo Bijutsu Hin
Blade type: tachi
Mei: Yoshikane
Dimensions:
Nagasa (length): 2 shaku 2 sun 6.5 bu(
slightly over 68 cm)
Sori (curvature): 8 bu 6.5rin (2.62 cm)
Motohaba (width at the machi): 6.5 bu (2.0 cm)
Sakihaba (width at the point): 5 bu 9 rin (1.79 cm)
Motokasane (thickness at the machi) :
slightly less than 1 bu 9 rin (0.59cm)
Sakikasane (thickness at the point): slightly over1bu 3
rin (0.41 cm)
Kissaki length
(length of the point): 8 bu 9rin (2.69 cm)
Nakago (tang) length: 7 sun 5.5 bu (22.9 cm)
Nakago sori (curvature of the tang): slightly less than1bu
(0.3 cm)
This sword is shinogi zukuri, with
an iorimune, a narrow mihaba, and shinogihaba, and the width at the moto and
saki are different. The blade is suriage but there is some koshizori left, and
the sori is slightly large. There is a small kissaki,
and the jihada is itame and o-itame, and there are scattered areas with nagare-hada.The
ji has thick ji-nie, fine chikei, and pale utsuri. The hamon is a wide shallow
notare, with ko-gunome, gunome mixed with choji, frequent short wide ashi, and
inside of the ha there are nie. There are coarse nie
(ara-nie), sunagashi, frequent fine kinsuji, and a worn down (faint)
nioi-guchi. The boshi is komaru with a shallow return. The horimono on the
omote and ura are smooth bo-hi with marudome. The
nakago is suriage, and sakikiri, and some yasurime are new katte-sagarei, while
the old yasurimei are shallow kattesagari. There are three mekugiana.
Yoshikane is a Ko-Bizen smith, and
some of the meikan list him as an Ichimonji smith. His signature shows two
styles, one with small kanji, and one with large kanji. The large style signature is sometimes niji-mei (two kanji) and sometimes also
include the kanji for “saku”too. His jihada is usually clearly visible, and
sometimes shows a tight kitae. His hamon is usually suguha, or ko-midare mixed
with ko-gunome, and this is an elegant old style, which shows a tight or dense
nioiguchi in suguha mixed with ashi and yo. The (an old
reference) stated that Yoshikane’s tachi shape is thin and
long, with a high sori; that the shinogi-ji is a little narrow; the top of mune
is sharp; the kissaki is small; the color of the ji (the ji-iro) is black, and
that the color of ha looks blue; ther eis a well made midareba; and the hamon
at the koshimoto is komidare; the middle is o-midare with deep ashi; the area
above the monouchi hamon is narrow and has ko-ashi and nie; shape is similar to
Kunitoshi’s; and inside of the kissaki the boshi is suguha with a slight degree
of midareba and a very slight return (kaeri). This commentary states that besides the shape,
Yoshikane’s yakiba are similar to Kunitoshi’s, and this means that when
compared to other Kobizen smiths, this blade has thick nie ashi. This sword has
an old fashioned appearance, and the itame hada is clearly visible, and the
inside of the ha has abundant thick nie ashi,
frequent
nie, and the nioiguchi is worn down, This blade is very characteristic of
Yoshikane’s style. The yakihaba is very wide, and this sword is similar to the
Juyo Bunkazai Yoshikane sword in the
This
explanation was provided by Hiyama Masanori, and the oshigata was provided by Ishii
Akira.
*NOTE: For Shijo Kantei To No.621
(in the October issue), the answer is Osafune Motoshige
Deadline for the submission of answers for the No.
622 issue is December 5th.
Instructions for submitting an answer:
Please submit only one answer for the
maker of this sword, and include your name and address. Send answers to the
NBTKH Shijo Kantei. You can use the Shijo Kantei card which is attached in this
issue. We will accept cards with answers for this issue’s kantei which are
postmarked on or before December 5th.
If the suggested sword smith has a
name which appears in more than one school, please write the school or province
your sword smith comes from, and if there are several generations for this
smith, please indicate a specific generation.
Hints
for Quiz No. 622:
Blade type: tachi
Description:
Length: 2 shaku 2 sun 6 bu (68 .5cm)
Sori: 7 bu (2.12 cm)
Motohaba: 9 bu 2rin (2.8 cm)
Sakihaba: 6 bu 9 rin (2.1cm)
Motokasane: 2 bu 8 rin (0.85 cm)
Sakikasane: 2 bu 1rin (0.65 cm)
Kisaki Length: 1sun 1bu 9 rin(3.6 cm)
Nakago length: 6 sun 5.5 bu (19.85 cm)
Nakago sori: 3 rin (0.1 cm)
This sword
is shinogi tsukuri with an iorimune, a usual mihaba, and the width at the moto and
saki areas are not different. The blade is suriage, has a high koshizori, and the tip has
sori. For the mihaba, the kasane on this blade is thick; and the
chu-kissai is slightly long. The jitetsu is itame and mokume mixed with nagare
masame hada, and the hada is clearly visible. There are ji-nie and some chikei,
along with some occaasional thick chikei. There are jifu and and a faint or
pale midare utsuri. The hamon and boshi both have ko-ashi, yo, some strong nioi
and konie The hamon is narrow for the mihaba, and
there are kinsuji and sunagashi. On both sides, there are horimono consisting
of bo-hi, and the omote has marudome, while the ura
has a straight finish. The nakago is suriage, and the tip is a shallow kurijiri
(originally it was kurijiri). The original yasurime are kattesagari, while the
new yasurimei are sujichigai. There are two mekugiana, and the tachi-omote
nakago in the shinogi ji area has a long signature (This smith’s giyaku tagane
work is not seen often).
Juyo
Toshingu
Dainichi
Nyoraizu Tsuba
Mei:
Iwamoto Konkan
Dainichi Nyorai is the primary buddha for the Shingon Mikkyo sect, he hopes that the light
of his torch will enlighten the world. Another name for this Buddha is
Hensho-Nyorai. There are two kinds of buddha, and the
symbol of wisdom is the kongokai. This Buddha is sitting on a rock with a shape
of a lotus flower (rengaza), and his elbows are wide apart, and his hands are
held in the chikenin style (with the fingers crossed), and from these
characteristics, one can judge that this is a kongoukai dainichi nyorai.
The artist is Iwamoto Konkan who
worked in the
This tsuba’s omote and ura have large empty spaces, which shows the Dainichi
Nyorai’s dignity, and this is excellent work. He has a child’s face and a thick
neck, his appearance conveys a rich look, and his thighs are large and show a
good volume: these are characteristics of the Shingon Mikkyo Buddha. The ura side of the tsuba has a straight bold three stage water
fall, and the the carving (sukesage-bori) shows the fall’s depth and water
volume. The edge of the rocks display deep diagonal chisel marks (natabori),
and these continued triangular chisel marks imply power, just like the sounds
from a rough or rugged water fall
can be heard all over the mountain. This is a chic distinctive style of Konkan,
and he did not use only gold for the Dainichi Nyorai: he used rougin which consists of mixed
metals (silver and copper) for the entire Buddha, and used tears of gold which
produces an old elegant effect. Also, as we look at both, the omote and ura, the half empty spaces may suggest that Konkan wants to
imply the presence of Kobou Daishi who was a founder of the Shingon Mikkyo
sect.
Explanation
provided by Kobayashi Terumasa
The swords discussed below were shown in the October meeting at the NBTHK headquarters building. This discussion presents answers concerning the makers of these blades.
During these meetings, five swords are displayed for examination. The blades can be examined, but the nakago are covered and cannot be seen (they are left in the shira saya tsuka). After examining the 5 swords, the meeting attendees must decide who they think made the 5 swords which were available for examination, and submit a paper ballot with these names. The 5 swords seen in the October meeting are described below, and the correct names of the makers are presented, along with an explanation of important details which should lead a person to the correct sword smith’s name. This lecture and the explanations were given by Hiyama Masanori.
Kantei To No. 1
Mei: Mumei Ko-Aoe katana
Length: 2 shaku 5 sun 4 bu
Sori: 1sun 0.5rin
Design: shinogi tsukuri
Mune: iorimune
Jihada: ko-itame mixed with ko-mokume. The hada is
clearly visible, and there are ji-nie, chikei, and jifu. The color of the iron
is a dark blue, and almost black in places.
Hamon: suguha style ko-choji midare mixed with
ko-midare, frequent ashi and yo, and the nioiguchi is worn down, and shows nie,
and some sunagashi.
Boshi: straight with komaru
This is an
o-suriage mumei sword, and is a typical ko-Aoe blade classified as Juyo Token.
There is one mekugi-ana, and this was opened for an uchigatana koshirae. Considering the mekugi-ana, the nakago
shape, the habaki-moto fumbari, and entire sori, this is an o-suriage blade,
whose length is 2 shaku 5 sun 4 bu, and originally the
blade was a tachi with a length of over 2 shaku 8 sun 5 bu. In the late Heian era and the beginning
of the
From the ji and ha, we can guess
at Ko-Aoe and Ko-Bizen swords, but the important point is the dark sections of
the jifu utsuri: the dark areas show all kinds of large and small shapes, and
here and there, one sees what appears to be sumihada (dark colored but clear
hada). This kind of jifu utsuri is seen on Ko-Aoe swords, and from this
element, this could be judged to be from the Ko-Aoe school.
Mei: shu Osafune ju Motoshige
Length: 2 shaku 3 sun 1bu
Sori: 7.5 bu
Design: shinogi tsukuri
Mune: iorimune
Jihada: tight itame
hada mixed with masame hade. the hada is clear, and
there are ji-nie, chikei, jifu and midare utsuri.
Hamon: gunome midare, and inside of the ha there is a square type of gunome, mixed with
ko-choji, ko-midare, with frequent ashi and yo. The entire hamon pattern is
slanted, and there are dense nioi, frequent nie, and kinsuji and
sunagashi.
Boshi: above the yokote there is a shallow notare,
the tip has a sharp return, and there are fine hakikake.
This is a
tachi by Motoshige, and the amount of hataraki consisting of ashi and yo is
higher than usual for Motoshige’s work.There is abundant nie inside of the ha, along with kinsuji and sunagashi. From these
characteristics, many people voted for a Ko-Bizen sword, the opposite of the
No.1 kantei to. This sword has deep nie, and the nie is on the
ha side of the nioiguchi, and this acquires the appearance of an old
style nioiguchi. If you look at the top of the bo-hi
(grooves), and at the ko-shinogi line, the sword appears to have been polished
many times, and the yokote line moved a little bit lower than it was originally.
In addition, the nioiguchi was probably more tight or dense originally. The
jitetsu is itame mixed with masame hada, and hada iseasily visible, and there
are jifu, and this is typical for Motoshige swords. If you look at the hamon
line carefully, the square gunome top is long in the lengthwise direction, and
the valleys of the yakiba are mixed with sharp togariba, and these are
characteristics of Motoshiges style, so this can be judged as his work.
If a sword is Ko-Bizen work, the
hamon is primarily an old style ko-midare and ko-choji, which is just like the
No.1 kantei to. This sword is a suguha style mixed with square gunome, and the
entire hamon is slanted, and for Bizen swords this kind of hamon is suppose to
be from the end of the
Kantei To No 3
Mei: Masanori
Oei 3π nen
Length: 2shaku 3 sun 7 bu
Sori: 4 bu
Design: shinogi-tsukuri
Mune: iorimune
Jihada: tight ko-itame, mixed here and there with
nagare masame hada; there are fine ji-nie, chikei and midare utsuri.
Hamon: the entire hamon is continuous ko-gunome,
with ko-ashi, frequent nie, some places have hotsure,
kinsuji and sunagashi.
Boshi: the omote and ura
are both midare-komi, and the omote side is a togari (sharp or pointed shape)
while the ura is ko-maru, and both sides have hakikake.
Some of the
Bizen Yoshii school smiths moved to Izumo-kuni, and these smiths are called the
Unshu-Michinaga school. Masanori worked in this school, and an Oei 30 nen dated signature
is very rare for the school. Michinaga’s swords are almost the same style as
his hometown Yoshii school’s work, this sword has a
regular continuous ko-gunome hamon, and has utsuri with almost the same shape
as the hamon, and this is characteristic of the Yoshii school. This is an early
Muromachi period sword, and when compared with the common examples of Yoshii
swords, it has strong ha-nie, the inside of the ha has
characteristic hataraki, and it appears like old style Yoshii school work. Many
people voted for some of the Yoshii school smiths. If people voted for the
Yoshii school, even though this sword is suriage, the mihaba is normal , and the mihaba between
the moto and saki is different. For
this sword’s mihaba, the kasane is thick, and the upper half of the sword has
sakizori. Thus, if you judged this as an early Muromachi sword, it is a good
answer.
Kantei To No. 4
Mei: Nakasone Okimasa
Enpo
3 nen Usangatsu (March) 28 nichi
Sunagawa Ibei Hisashige (kao)
Futatsudo setsudan
Length: slightly less than 2 shaku 3 sun 7 bu
Sori: 4.5 bu
Design: shinogi tsukuri
Mune: iorimune
Jihada: tight ko-itame, dense ji-nie, fine frequent
chikei; the shinogi-ji has masame hada
Hamon: straight yakidashi; above this is gunome
midare, and the yakiba has high and low sections, and has the appearance
of a string of beads, mixed here
and there with togariba; there are ashi, yo, dense nioi, frequent nie, kinsuji,
sunagashi and a bright nioiguchi.
Boshi: Both the omote and ura
are shallow midare-komi with a komaru, frequent nie and some parts become nie
kugure (the shape of the hamon is hidden or obscured in places because of the
dense nie).
This
nakago’s ura side has a kinzogan mei dated Enpo 3 nen,
and from the omote mei we can judge this to be an early Nakasone Okimasa sword.
Okimasa has a few dated signatures which were in the Kanbun, Empo, Tenwa, and
Genroku eras, and his active period was from the the Kanbun and Empo eras to
the Teikyo and Genroku eras.
That is why, he has two types of style: one is Shinto during the
Teikyo and Genroku eras, and other style is Kanbun shinto just like this sword.
This sword does not show his usual style which has ha-nie and a rough jitetsu
with tobiyaki, and muneyaki. Also, because this sword’s nioiguchi is bright,
many people voted for Kotetsu. If
you look at the hamon carefully, the top of this string of beads hamon has more
high and low parts, and this is a characteristic Okimasa hadori. Also his nie
is more rough than his teacher’s and inside of ha two
gunome can come together, and this is his distinctive style, and from these
features one can guess at a work by Okimasa. Kotetsu has many kinzogan
saidanmei, and the person doing this testing is almost always Yamano Kaemon
Nagahisa and Kanjuro Hisahide. There are very few Okimasa saidanmei, and the person
doing the testing, besides Kanjuro Hisahide was
Sunagwa Ibei. This sword has a tameshigiri result by Sunagwa Ibei.
Kantei To No. 5
Mei: Taikei Naotane with mikazuki mon
Bunka 8 nen, in mid-autumn
Length: 2 shaku 2 sun 1bu
Sori: 4.5 bu
Design: shinogi tsukuri
Mune: iorimune
Jihada: tight ko-itame, mu-ji hada style, ji-nie,
midare utsuri
Hamon: open bottom gunome, slanted square gunome,
togariba, mixed with yahazu style choji; there are ashi, yo, ko-nie, and the
habaki-moto area has a soft hamon.
Boshi: midare-komi ji-zo style, hakikake
Taikei
Naotane’s Bizen-den style swords show mainly slanted square gunome, and
kataochi style gunome which are in the style of Osafune Kagemitsu, and
Kanemitsu. This sword is has primarily a midare hamon with gaps of breaks in
the line of gunome, and the boshi is shaped like the head of a
Japanese candle and flame, so this is an Oei-bizen utsushimono. This type of
style is known as his work, however, very few swords
like this are seen. Because of this, many people voted for Hioki Mitsuoki,
Tatara Nagayuki, Bitchu no kami Yasuhiro, and the
shinshinto Ishido school smiths. Looking at the jitetsu, this shows
Naotane’s muji-hada style seen in Bizen-den swords from the Suishinshi school,
and the hamon’s yakigashira (top or nioiguchi)) merges with the line of utsuri.
Also part of the utsuri becomes strong or pronounced and appears almost like
tobiyaki, and this is seen in work by Masahide and Naotane, and this is a
distinctive type of utsuri for shinshinto swords. The hamon is an interrupted
midare, and the yakigashira is mixed with yahazu style choji, and under the
mono-uchi are slanted square gunome and a yahazu style hamon. These features
are seen in Naotane’s usual Bizen-den style work. Also, the habakimoto hamon
becomes somewhat weak, and this is a characteristic of Suishinshi school
swords. The Ishido school smith’s jitetsu are tight ko-itame, and they do not have not muji-hada style as seen in this sword,
and they do not have utsuri mixed with firm tobiyaki. Also their hamon are
primarily choji-midare, and Nagayuki has open bottom midare, but his hamon are
not square as in this sword. The nakago’s mikazuki mon
and the mekugi-ana together look like the moon and sun, and this type of nakago
is seen often during the Bunka era in
Shijo
Kantei No 620 (September, 2008 issue)
Answer and Discussion for Shijo Kantei To
Number 620 (September, 2008 issue)
Answer: A wakizashi by Osafune Morikage (Omiya
Morikage), dated Joji 3 nen
This sword
has a wide mihaba, is long (sunnobi), has a thin kasane, and a shallow sori,
and from these details, we can guess at a golden age Nanboku-cho blade. Morikage’s signatures which are seen
today have early dates from Koan 2 (1362), and later ones from Oei 1(1394), and
previously it was thought that this was the same name used by three generations
of smiths. However, today there is a strong opinion that there was one sword
smith, and he changed his style from time to time. Morikage was active during
the golden age of the Nanboku-cho period to the early Muromachi period, and his
swords are long with a wide mihaba, and there is not much difference in the
width of the blade between the moto and saki. There are o-kissaki tachi, with
wide mihaba, and
small wakizashi and tanto which have an Enbun and Joji style shape. Around the
Eiwa (1375-79) era which is after the golden age of the Nanbokucho era,
Morikage’s tachi shapes become a little narrower, and the difference in the
width between the moto and saki is smaller, and the kissaki is a little
smaller, and typical Eiwa era shapes can be seen. At the end of the Nanboukcho
period, his swords changed to have an average mihaba, and there is a difference
in the width between the saki and moto areas; the kissaki are chu-kissaki; and
the swords are koshisori; the tip has sori which is
seen on kosori school type swords.
Morikage is not a mainstream Nanbokucho Bizen sword smith, and his jitetsu show
a strong itame hada mixed here and there with there with o-hada; they have
different colored jifu, and the utsuri is pale or faint. Morikage made all
kinds of swords, and this sword’s hamon is predominantly a Kanemitsu style
notare hamon (but his midare hamon are not as smooth as Kanemitsu’s hamon and
show a more square appearing pattern). Other swords of Motoshige have a square
style gunome hamon, Aoe style suguha hamon, and choji hamon mixed with gunome
or a midareba hamon. Morikage has few swords from the end of the Nanbokucho period, and
typically, from this time swords show shallow ko-notare and ko-gunome mixed
with ko-togariba, and the entire hamon appears small or narrow, as is seen on
kosori swords. Most of Morikage’s swords have ashi and yo, and the nioiguchi is
toned down and has mura nie. Morikage’s boshi are
midare-komi, and his swords’ boshi are mostly midare-komi, and with a sharp
tip. Swords with suguha hamon have straight boshi with a komaru. Among the
Nanbokucho Bizen smiths, he was not a mainstream smith, and these smiths
sometimes show rustic ji and ha, and this is also characteristic of Morikage
swords in his various styles. His horimono include bo-hi, soe-hi, futasuji-hi,
bonji, sankoken,
haramiryu style kurikara, and Hachiman-daibosatsu kanji.
Morikage’s nakago are kurijiri, and his yasurime are kattesagari. The signature
on this sword (which is a hiratskuri wakizashi) and tanto are mainly on the
center of the omote under the mekugi, and have long mei
saying Bishu Osafune Morikage and Bishu Osafune ju Morikage, and the date is on
the ura side. Morikage also has many gyaku tagane signatures, and this is a
characteristic style of his. At one time, people thought the sword smiths who
signed Bizen Osafune Morikge were from the
Many people voted for Morikage,
and some voted for Nagayoshi. Among the famous Nanbokucho Osafune smiths, the ji and ha
are different from the work of Kanemitsu, but his remaining tanto consist of 7
to 8 short blades, and his mihaba are wide and thin, and have shallow sori, so
these tanto shapes appear to be a smaller version or shape of Enbun and Joji
style tanto and wakizashi. Nagayoshi’s active period was Jowa 6 (1350) to
Koreki 2 (1380), and we see this kind of large tanto and hira tsukuri
wakizashi. His tanto and hira tsukuri wakizashi hamon are a midare style mixed
with gunome, his midare hamon have peaks and valleys, and inside of the ha one sees a distinctive pattern of two gunome fused
together which is called a Nagamitsu ear shape hamon. The nioiguchi are worn
down, has there are thick nie, the boshi is midarekomi, and goes up sharply,
and the tip is sharp with a long or deep kaeri. Also, Nagayoshi and the smiths
in his school have signatures which do not have the distinctive tagane tsukai,
and you have to watch for this characteristic.
Explanation
provided by Hinohara Dai.