Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 8| «Part 2» Overview of the Kamakura Period Sword 1192-1333, Uncategorized

40|Part 2 of — 7 Overview of Kamakura Period Sword (鎌倉太刀概要)

This chapter is a detailed part of Chapter 7, an overview of the Kamakura Period Swords.  Please read  Chapter 7, Overview of the Kamakura Period Swords, before reading this section. 

0-timeline - size 24 Kamakura Period

                         The red circle above indicates the time we discuss in this section.

The Kamakura period was a golden age of sword-making.  About half of the well-known swords today were produced during this time.  This is probably because the war between the Genji and the Heishi demanded many swords, and swordsmiths improved their skills through wartime experience.  Also, Emperor Gotoba (後鳥羽) invited many talented swordsmiths to his palace, treated them favorably, and encouraged them to create excellent swords by granting them high ranks.  During the Kamakura period, sword-making techniques greatly improved.

Middle Kamakura Period —- Yamashiro-den (山城伝)

The middle Kamakura period was the height of the Yamashiro-den.  Within the Yamashiro-den, there were three main groups: the Ayanokoji group (綾小路), Awataguchi group (粟田口), and Rai group (来).                                                                                                                       Among the Awataguchi group, six swordsmiths received the honor of “Goban-kaji ” from Emperor Gotoba (後鳥羽上皇).  Awataguchi is the name of an area in Kyoto. 

The Ayanokoji ( 綾小路 ) group lived in the Ayanokoji area of Kyoto.  My sword textbook had a note indicating that I had seen Ayanokoji Sadatoshi (綾小路定利) on March 22, 1972.  My note was brief, only a few words: o-suriage, funbari, narrow–body, and ji-nie. 

The Rai group originated from Rai Kuniyuki (来国行 ).  Rai Kuniyuki and Ayanokoji Sadatoshi were believed to have been close friends.  Rai Kuniyuki created many well-known swords.  His famous Fudo Kuniyuki (不動国行) was once owned by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru (足利義輝 ), then passed to Matsunaga Danjo (松永弾正), then to Oda Nobunaga ( 織田信長 ), then to Akechi Mitsuhide (明智光秀 ), and eventually to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉).  All of them were historically famous and influential daimyo.  It is said that Toyotomi Hideyoshi held this sword during the memorial service for Oda Nobunaga.  Rai Kuniyuki’s son was Niji Kunitoshi.  He also forged well-known swords. 

Middle Kamakura Period —– Bizen-den (備前伝)                                                              

The Bizen-den during the Heian period was called Ko-bizen.  They are similar to those in the Yamashiro-den style.  The true height of the Bizen-den was during the middle Kamakura period.  The Bizen area (today’s Okayama Prefecture) had many ideal conditions for sword-making: a good climate, abundant iron resources, plenty of wood for fuel, and a convenient location.  Naturally, many swordsmiths moved there, and it became a major center for sword production. 

The Bizen region produced many swords of higher quality and superior to those of other sword groups and more famous swordsmiths.  Fukuoka Ichimonji Norimune (則宗) and his son Sukemune (助宗 ) received the honor of the Goban-kaji from Emperor Gotoba.   Among the Osafune group (長船), the famous Mitsutada (光忠) and Nagamitsu (長光) appeared.  My father owned four Mitsutada blades.  Three tachis and one tanto.  He was so proud of owning four Mitsutada blades that he asked his tailor to monogram Mitsutada on the inside pocket of his suit jacket. 

From the Hatakeda group (畠田), Hatakeda Moriie (畠田守家), and from the Ugai (鵜飼) group, Unsho (雲生 ) and Unji (雲次) appeared.  The famous Kunimune (国宗) also emerged around this time.   Since many swordsmiths worked in the Bizen-den, many Bizen swords exist today.  Each swordsmith displayed his own characteristics in the swords.  Therefore, doing the kantei of Bizen swords can be quite complex. 

The classification of the sword ranking from the top

  1. Kokuho (国宝: National Treasure)
  2. Jyuyo Bunkazai (重要文化財: Important Cultural Property)
  3. Jyuyo Bijutsu Hin (重要美術品: Important Artwork)
  4. Juyo Token (重要刀剣: Important Sword)        more to follow

Here are my father’s four Bizen Osafune Mitsutada swords. He took these pictures many years ago at home. It is clear that he was not much of a photographer.  On a rectangular  sheet of white paper, he wrote the name of the swordsmith, the period when the sword was made, the name(s) of the daimyo who owned it in the past, and its classification.

img027               img028                Osafune Mitsutada (Juyo Bukazai)                 Osafune Mitsutada (Juyo Bunakzai)

img029            img030 Osafune Mitsutada (Juyo Token)                 Osafune Mitsutada(Juyo Bunkazai)

Late Kamakura Period —– Soshu Den (相州伝 )

Yamashiro-den began to decline in the latter part of the Kamakura period.  At this time, many swordsmiths moved to the Kamakura area under the new power of the Kamakura bakufu (鎌倉幕府), led by the Hojo clan.  The new group, Soshu-den (相州伝 ), began to emerge.  Fukuoka Ichimonji Sukezane (福岡一文字助真) and Kunimune (国宗) from Bizen moved to Kamakura.  Toroku Sakon Kunitsuna (藤六左近国綱) from the Awataguchi group of Yamashiro-den also moved to Kamakura.  These three are considered the founders of the Soshu-den in Kamakura.  Kunitsuna‘s son was Tosaburo Yukimitsu, and his grandson was the famous Masamune (正宗).  Outside Kamakura, Yamashiro Rai Kunitsugu (来国次), Go-no-Yoshihiro (郷義弘) from the Ettchu (越中) province, and Samoji  (左文字) from Chikuzen Province (筑前) were active swordsmiths.

Yurie Endo 遠藤由利江 7| «Part 2» Kamakura Period History, Uncategorized

39|Part 2 of — 6 Kamakura Period History 1192 – 1333 (鎌倉時代歴史 )

This chapter is a detailed part of Chapter 6, Kamakura Period History 1192 – 1333. Please read Chapter 6 before reading this section. Since this continues from chapter 6, some of the information here may overlap with Chapter 6.

0-timeline - size 24 Kamakura Period                         The red circle above indicates the time we discuss in this section

Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛)

Chapter 6, Kamakura Period History, describes two major samurai groups, the Genji (源氏) and the Heishi (平氏), at the end of the Heian period.  The leader of the Genji was Minamoto-no-Yoshitomo (源義朝), and the leader of the Heishi (or Heike) was Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛).  They were childhood friends.  However, due to political situations and circumstances, they became enemies by the time they reached adulthood.  After several power struggles, the Genji lost, and Taira-no-Kiyomori gained considerable power.  He favored his followers, gave them high positions, and arranged for his daughter to marry the emperor.   As a result, Kiyomori’s power went even beyond that of the emperor.  This was when people would say, “If you are not a part of the Heishi family, you are not a human being.”   A situation like this created too many opponents against him.  Eventually, the suppressed Genji and other samurai groups united, raised an army, fought the Heishi, and defeated them.

While Taira-no-Kiyomori was in power, he began trading with China, which contributed to Japan’s economic prosperity.  The picture below is the Itsukushima Jinja Shrine (厳島神社), built by Taira-no-Kiyomori.  It is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

shutterstock_252533968-600x375

From Wikipedia.  The photo is in the public domain. Author: Rdsmith4      File Itsukushima Floating Shrine.jpg 8 /05/04

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (源頼朝)

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo (源頼朝) was the son of Minamoto-no- Yoshitomo(源義朝).  After Yoshitomo was defeated by Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛), the direct bloodline of Genji, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo was sent to Izu Island.  He was in his early teens. 

Yoritomo grew up as a young man on Izu Island, where he met Hojo Masako (北条政子).  She was the daughter of Hojo Tokimasa (北条時政), a local government official.  While Tokimasa was away on a business trip to Kyoto, Yoritomo and Masako had a baby.  Tokimasa feared that if the Heishi found out about his daughter and Yoritomo, the Hojo family could get into trouble.  So, he planned to have Masako marry someone else.  However, she eloped with Yoritomo the night before the wedding.  It is said that this story was written in the famous Japanese history book “Azuma Kagami: 吾妻鏡” and a few other books.  People started to believe this was how it happened between them. 

However, some argue that the story might not be exactly how it happened.  Meanwhile, in Kyoto, the Heishi became very powerful and tyrannical within the central government, called Chotei (朝廷), and suppressed their opponents.  All the angry, dissatisfied groups formed an army to attack the Heishi.  Minamoto-no-Yoritomo was the leader of these opposing groups, and his army grew larger and stronger with the help of Masako‘s father, Hojo Tokimasa.  By this time, Hojo Tokimasa came to realize that he would have had a better chance if he had sided with his son-in-law.  The Genji army pushed the Heishi all the way to the southern part of Japan.  The Heishi was defeated at a place called Dan-no-Ura (壇ノ浦) near Kyushu (九州) in 1185.

Yoritomo established the Kamakura Bakufu (Kamakura government) in Kamakura.  After Yoritomo‘s death, his wife Masako proved her ability as a leader. She saved the Kamakura bakufu when the central government, Chotei, attacked it. 

Here is a well-known story about her.  When Yoritomo used to go around to visit other women in Kamakura, Masako would send her men to follow her husband and had them set fire to the house of the woman whom her husband was after.  In her mind, the Hojo were the ones who made Yoritomo the head of the Kamakura bakufu.  Without the Hojo family’s assistance, Yoritomo could not have achieved his success.

1024px-Kaguraden-Hachimangu_Kamakura

Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu  in Kamakura 　Author: Urashimataro　     From Wikipedia  Photo is public domain

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is one of the main shrines in Kamakura.  It is within walking distance of the Kamakura train station.  The photo above shows a large shrine at the top of the long stairs.  Every year on Dec 31, a large number of people visit the shrine to hear the Joya-no-kane (除夜の鐘: the night watch bells on New Year’s Eve)

Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (源義経)

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo (源頼朝) had several half-brothers.  Taira-no-Kiyomori (平清盛) saved the lives of these young boys on the condition that they would become monks when they grew up.  For Kiyomori, they were the sons of childhood friends, after all.  One of them was Ushiwaka-maru (牛若丸: later Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune源義経), whom Taira-no-Kiyomori raised as his own child.  Ushiwaka-maru believed that Kiyomori was his father.  Later, Yoshitsune was raised at Kurama Yama Temple. 

He lived there until he became a teenager.  After that, he went to live with the O-shu Fujiwara (奥州藤原) family.   They resided in the northern part of Japan, quite a distance away from Kyoto.  The O-shu Fujiwara clan was very wealthy.  They had a luxurious culture there.  Because of the distance from Chotei (the central government), they acted as if they were an independent country.   They created great wealth by mining gold and trading it with countries outside Japan. 

Yoshitsune lived there quite happily for a while, but when he heard that his half-brother Yoritomo had raised an army to attack the Heishi, he decided to join them.  Yoshitsune was highly skilled in battles.  He won many famous battles, which were critical for the Genji to win the war.  

Yoritomo had a grand political plan for how to proceed to take over the Heishi’s power.   However, Yoshitsune did not understand it.  He was a skilled warrior, but not a politician.  That made Yoritomo irritated and angry with him.  On top of that, Yoshitsune became quite popular in Kyoto.  That made Yoritomo anxious, and he decided to eliminate Yoshitsune. 

Yoshitsune fled to O-shu, Fujiwara.  Initially, the O-shu Fujiwara protected Yoshitsune but could not hold against Yoritomo’s army.  Ultimately, Yoritomo destroyed the O-shu Fujiwara entirely in the end.  Today, a grand structure built by the O-shu Fujiwara has been restored.  You can visit “Konjiki-do: 金色堂” inside “Chuson-ji Temple: 中尊寺.”

The  Chinese knew about the wealth of O-shu Fujiwara.  Later, Marco Polo heard about this wealthy small country further east. He mentioned this wealthy small island in his book, “The Travels of Marco Polo.”  In this book, he wrote, “All the houses are made of gold,” referring to O-shu Fujiwara.  Of course, not all the houses were made of gold.

 

Marco Polo introduced Japan as “Zipangu” in his book.  It means the golden country. The name “Zipangu” evolved into Japan.  However, we Japanese don’t call our country  Japan.  We call it “Nihon” or “Nippon,” and both are correct.