Yamashiro tradition

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Centers of Japanese swordsmithing traditions. The Gokaden (including Yamashiro Province) are marked in red.

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

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

history

Munechika sword

With the relocation of the Japanese capital to Heian-kyō (today: Kyōto ) in the Yamashiro province in 794, the local demand for swords grew strongly. As a result, the center of Japanese sword production moved from the Yamato Province to the Yamashiro Province. One of the most important swordsmiths from this early phase was the swordsmith Munechika.

Within the Yamashiro tradition one differentiates between different schools. These were the Sanjo School , the Awataguchi School , the Rai School , the Ayakoji School , the Ukai School , the Aoe School, and the Enju School .

Characteristics

  • Sword blades of the Yamashiro tradition appear slim and graceful in shape, but with a low blade ridge (Shinogi) and a small point ( Kissaki ).
  • The blades have the highest curvature in the middle, so that they resemble the archway of a Shinto temple (Torii Sori).
  • The blade surface ( Hada ) usually has a tight grain similar to the annual rings of trees (Ko-Mokume).
  • The hardness line ( hamon ) usually runs evenly and parallel to the cutting edge (suguha) and shows jie-nie. There are also undulating lines of hardness (Choji-midare).
  • The tang of the blade ( Nakago ) is usually long and has a rounded tip (Kuri-Jiri) on older swords (up to 1400). Later the fishing rods show a mixture of rounded (Kuri-jiri) and symmetrical tips (kengyo-jiri).

literature

  • Kōkan, Nagayama: The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords, pp. 138 ff.
  • Sesko, Markus: Genealogies and Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths, p. 35
  • Yumoto, John M .: The Samurai Sword - A Manual, p. 30
  • Kapp, Leon / Yoshihara, Yoshindo: Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths - From 1868 to the Present, p. 17.

Web links