0-timeline - size 24 Sengoku period

The red circle above indicate the time we discuss in this section

After the Onin-no-Ran, Kyoto was in a devastating condition.  Distinguished swordsmiths in the Kyoto area were almost all gone.  Sengoku Daimyo (warlord or feudal lord) needed a large number of swords from nearby.  Mino and Bizen areas were the active sword-making places during the Sengoku time.  It was because the Mino province was located in a convenient location from many feudal lords.  Also, the Shizu Group from Yamato Den (school) moved to Mino province.  Tegai Kaneyoshi from Yamato Den moved to Mino, and many swordsmiths from Yamashiro and Yamato areas moved to Mino.  Thus, Mino could supply the high demand for a large number of swords.  During this wartime, Samurai demanded a very practical sword that wouldn’t bend or break but cut well.  Together with swordsmiths in the Mino area, Bizen Osafune swordsmiths fulfilled the high demand also

Kazu-Uchi-Mono  and  Chumon-Uchi

  • Kazu-uchi-mono was a sword made just good enough for one battle. They were not made for permanent preservation.
  • Chumon-uchi was a custom-made sword.  Good shape, good forging, often engraved the swordsmith’s name and the name of a person who ordered it.
  • 24 Sword shape (Sengoku period )

Characteristics of Mino-Den Swords

Sugata (姿:shape) —– Shallow curvature, low Gyo-no-mune, Chukissaki with Fukura. The width and the thickness are not too wide, not too thick.  Engraving is rare with the  Mino Den swords.  On the  Bizen Den swords, the bottom of the Bo-hi (single groove) shows a round end (see the last photo below) just above the Machi area (for Machi, see the diagram in  Chapter 3 Names of parts).

13 Mune drawing

Hamon (刃文: Tempered line)

Mino Den ——–Mostly Nioi.   Sanbon-sugi (pointed Gunome ), O-notare, Yahazu-midare, Hako-midare (box shape), Chu-suguha with Katai-ha.  See the drawings below.  Also, Mino Koshi-ba appeared.  Mino Koshi-ba: approx. 1-inch Sugu-ha at the bottom, followed by irregular Hamon, then Chu-suguha at the top.

Mino-Den Hamon

24 Sannbon sugi,hako, yahazu, O-midare)24 Suguha katai-ha

   Bizen-Den ———-Mostly Nioi.  Wide tempered line.  Koshi-hiraita-midare.  See the drawings below.

                                             Bizen-Den Hamon

22Hamon (Koshi Hiraita midare)
          from Sano Museum Catalogue

Boshi ((鋩子: Tempered line at kissaki area)—————————–Turn back deep.  Jizo-boshi (side view of a monk’s head), Ko-maru (small round), kaeri-yoru (lean)

24 jizo-boshi Keri-yoru

Ji-hada ( 地肌: Area between shinogi and tempered area)————-Mokume (wood burl) mixed with Masame (straght grain).  often shows Masame in the Shinogi area.  Sometimes, Mokume stands out.

Swordsmiths during Sengoku Period

Mino-Den———Magoroku Kanemoto (孫六兼元) Izuminokami Knesada (和泉守兼定) Bizen-Den ——Yosozaemon Sukesada (興三左衛門祐定) Norimitu (則光) Tadamitu(忠光)

24 Sukesada
Yosozaemon Sukesada ( Sano Museum)         与三左衛門尉祐定(佐野美術館蔵)

One thought on “23| Sengoku Period Sword (戦国時代刀)

  1. Domo arigatou gozaimasu

    Sasha

    On Sun, 25 Oct 2020 at 10:11 am Study of Japanese Sword wrote:

    > Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 posted: ” The circle indicate the time we are discussing > in this section After the Onin-no-Ran, Kyoto was in a devastating > condition. Distinguished swordsmiths in the Kyoto area were almost all > gone. Sengoku Daimyo (warlord or feudal lord) demanded a large numbe” >

    Like

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