Bizen tradition

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Centers of Japanese swordsmithing traditions. The Gokaden (including the province of Bizen) are marked in red.

The Bizen tradition ( Japanese 備 前 伝 , Bizen-den ) is a collective name for swordsmith schools in the Japanese province of Bizen , which had similar characteristics in different ways.

The Bizen tradition belonged to the Yamashiro tradition , the Yamato tradition , the Sōshū tradition and the Mino tradition to the five classical Japanese swordsmithing traditions ( Gokaden ).

history

The Bizen tradition originated in Bizen Province in the southern half of what is now Okayama Prefecture. Due to the topographical conditions, swordsmiths settled there very early. The town of Osafune in the eastern part of the province was therefore a center for the manufacture of edged weapons for over 1000 years . The Bizen tradition with its specific characteristics is said to have been founded by the swordsmith Tomonari ( 友 成 ), who lived around 1100 . He was followed by the famous blacksmiths Kanehira, Sukehira, Nobufusa, Takahira and Masatsune.

The early blacksmiths in the Bizen tradition are summarized as Ko-Bizen-ha ( 古 備 前 派 , "old Bizen current"). Various branch schools later developed within the Bizen tradition. A distinction is usually made between the Fukuoka School , the Yoshioka School , the Ōmiya School , the Yoshii School and the Osafune School , the latter producing most of the swords of the Bizen tradition that exist today.

Characteristics

  • Sword blades of the Bizen tradition have a medium width and thickness compared to other swords. They appear generally more graceful in overall shape.
  • The blades are curved and have the highest curvature in the lower third of the blade (Koshi Sori). More recent blades also tend to have a torii-sori curve, especially in the Osafune school.
  • The blade surface ( hada ) usually has a mokume grain. Both in a finer (Ko-Mokume) and coarser grain (O-Mokume). In addition, there is often another striking line of hardness in the unhardened blade area (Ji), the so-called Utsuri .
  • The hardness line ( hamon ) is usually wavy and irregular (midare). In addition, there are also straight lines of hardness (Suguha).
  • The tang of the blade ( Nakago ) is relatively long and graceful, especially with older blades, but becomes shorter and thicker with younger blades of the Bizen tradition. The tip of the tang has a rounded tip ( 栗 尻 , Kuri-Jiri , "chestnut end").

literature

  • Nagayama Kōkan: The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords. Kodansha International, Tokyo / New York 1997, ISBN 4-7700-2071-6 , p. 167 ff.
  • Markus Sesko: Genealogies and Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths. BoD, Norderstedt 2010, ISBN 978-3-8391-8347-2 , p. 39 ff.
  • John M. Yumoto: The Samurai Sword - A Manual. Ordonnanz-Verl. Strebel, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-931425-00-2 , p. 28 f.
  • Leon Kapp, Yoshindo Yoshihara: Modern Japanese swords and swordsmiths - from 1868 to the present. Kodansha International, Tokyo u. a. 2002, ISBN 4-7700-1962-9 , p. 17.
  • Izzard, Sebastian: One Hundred Masterpieces from the collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. 1992, ISBN 1-880907-00-3 , p. 41 ff.

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