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Articles |Sword Prices, Origami, and Samurai Income by Markus Sesko
To understand the financial situation of a samurai during the Edo period, we first have to go into the contemporary…
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Articles |KIYONDO 清人
Kiyondo’s (清人) family name was Saitô (斎藤)and he was the adopted son of yakaji Saitô Koichirô and was first called…
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Articles |NIDAI MURAMASA 二代村正
Any study of nidai Muramasa Kei (二代村正) would be somewhat remiss if it did not start with a bit of…
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Articles |OSAKA SHODAI TANBA (no) KAMI YOSHIMICHI 大坂初代丹波守吉道
The founder of the Mishina (三品) school was Kanemichi (兼道) who lived in Seki (関), Mino (美濃) province, at the…
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Articles |The Beauty of the Japanese Sword by Michihiro Tanobe 田野邉道宏
Japanese swords are often perceived to be formidable and inaccessible objects that some people find objectionable or even abhorrent and…
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Articles |SEKISHÛ NAOTSUNA 石州直綱
The swordsmith Sekishû Naotsuna (石州 直 綱) was from Iwami Province (present day Shimane Prefecture) on Honshu. He is considered…
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Articles |IZUMI (no) KAMI KANESHIGE 和泉守兼重
For many years Izumi (no) Kami Kaneshige (和泉守兼重) was thought to be the same smith as Kazusa (no) Suke Kaneshige…
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Articles |BIZEN TOMOMITSU 備前備光
Bizen Tomomitsu (備前倫光) was a smith from Bizen Province who worked in the Nambokuchô Era. He was the son and…
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Articles |SATSUMA YASUSADA 薩摩安貞
While swords were produced in the Satsuma Kuni from the Heian Jidai, they were primarily produced by katana kaji referred…
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Articles |THE ENJU SCHOOL 延寿系
Around the end of the Kamakura era, a smith by the name of Hiromura (弘村) left the Yamato (大和) area…
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Articles |YAMATO no KAMI YASUSADA 大和守安定
Yamato-no-Kami Yasusada (大和守安定) has long been thought to have moved to Edo from Echizen Province having been a student of…
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Articles |THE UNRUI GROUP 雲類系
The swordsmiths with names starting with the kanji character UN (雲)such as Unshô (雲生), Unji(雲次), and Unjû (雲重)are either called…
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Articles |THE YAMATO SHIKKAKE SCHOOL 大和尻懸
The province of Yamato (大和) was the center of Japanese culture during the Nara (奈良) period before the capital was…
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Articles |SANDAI SÔSHÛ TSUNAHIRO 三代相州綱廣
The third generation of smith who went by the name of Tsunahiro (綱廣) belonged to what is known as the…
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Articles |WAKASA NO KAMI UJIFUSA 若狭守氏房
Wakasa (no) Kami Ujifusa (若狭守氏房) is said to have been the son of Seki Kanefusa (関兼房). He was born in…
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Articles |THE BIZEN YOSHII SCHOOL 備前吉井派
The Yoshii (吉井派)school was active in Yoshii, near Osafune, beginning in the Nanbokuchô period. Tamenori (為則) is said to have…
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Articles |YAMATO TEGAI SCHOOL 大和手搔系
During the Nara period, before the capital was transferred to Kyoto in Yamashiro province, the province of Yamato was the…
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Articles |THE NOBUKUNI HA 信国派
The first generation Nobukuni (信国) was from Yamashiro Province (山城国). He was the son of Ryôkai Hisanobu (了戒久信) and he…
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Articles |THE HÔJÔJI SCHOOL 法城寺
The Hôjôji School (法城寺) was founded in Tajima by the smith, Kunimitsu (国光), and flourished during the Nanbokuchô Era of…
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Articles |BIZEN OSAFUNE YASUMITSU 備前長船康光
Shodai Bizen Yasumitsu (備前康光) traces his lineage to Shigeyoshi (重吉) of the Kagen era (嘉元) of 1303, who descends from…
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Articles |THE MURAMASA KEI 村正派
Any study of the Muramasa Kei (村正派) would be somewhat remiss if it did not start with a bit of…
