Yamato tradition

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

The Yamato tradition ( Japanese 大 和 伝 , Yamato-den ) is a collective name for swordsmith schools in the Japanese province of Yamato , which had similar characteristics in different forms. The five main schools were the Senjuin School , Taema School , Shikkage School , Tegai School and Hōshō School . However, there are also many other swordsmithing schools that were influenced by the Yamato tradition, such as B. the Kanabō School , the Mihara School and the Naoe Shizu School.

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

history

Its origins lie in the Yamato province , which was the center of Japanese culture during the Nara period . The province is located south of Kyoto in the Kinai region ( Japanese 畿内 , literally: "interior of the capital area"). The city of Heijō-kyō (today: Nara ) in the province of Yamato was the capital of the Japanese Empire at that time , so that many swordsmiths settled here. According to legend, the first Japanese swordsmiths Amakuni and Amakura also came from the Yamato tradition. The Kogarasu-maru ascribed to them is probably the best-known example of the Yamato swordsmith's art. Other swordsmiths from this early phase of the Yamato tradition, such as B. Fujito and Amafuji are mentioned in books, but there are no longer any swords ascribed to them.

With the relocation of the capital to Heian-kyō (today: Kyōto ) in 794, however, many swordsmiths left the province. Around the year 1200, martial religious sects increased in the area around Nara, so that the need for swords increased. In the course of this, more swordsmiths were again active in the province to cover the weapons needs of the warrior monks. For this reason, temple names were mostly used for the different schools, e.g. B. the Tegai school was named after the gate Tegai-mon of the Tōdai-ji temple .

Characteristics

  • Blacksmiths of the Yamato tradition made tachi , katana and tantō as well as some naginata and yari .
  • Sword blades of the Yamato tradition appear slim and graceful in shape, but with a high blade ridge (Shinogi), which is also known as Takashinogi.
  • The blades have the highest curvature in the middle, so that they resemble the archway of a Shinto temple (Torii Sori).
  • The hardness line ( hamon ) usually runs evenly and parallel to the cutting edge (suguha) and has nie-deki.
  • The blade surface (hada) typically has a straight surface texture, a so-called masame-hada, but also a swirl-shaped texture, the so-called mokume-hada, often occurs.
  • The tang of the blade ( Nakago ) usually has a rounded tip (Kuri-Jiri), but pointed ends also appear in later phases (Kengyo).
  • With the exception of fillets or hi (blade), there are hardly any engravings, so-called horimono , on the longer blades . On Tanto these can be found in different variants, but only rarely dragon motifs (Kurikara) or Ken or Tsurugi with a depiction of a sword hilt . Often such horimono were attached to the blades later.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Yasu, Kizu: Swordsmiths of the Yamato School , pp. 3 ff.
  2. ↑ Kōkan, Nagayama: The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords , p. 116
  3. ↑ Tilley, William: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , p. 39
  4. ↑ Hakusui, Inami, Nippon-Tō, The Japanese Sword , p. 125
  5. ↑ Tilley, William: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , p. 39
  6. ↑ Yasu Kizu: Swordsmiths of the Yamato School , p.1
  7. ↑ Yasu Kizu: Swordsmiths of the Yamato School , p.2
  8. ↑ Tilley, William: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , p. 40
  9. ↑ Kapp, Leon / Yoshihara, Yoshindo: Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths - From 1868 to the Present , p. 17
  10. ↑ Kōkan, Nagayama: The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords , p. 118
  11. ↑ Tilley, William: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , p. 40
  12. ↑ Hakusui, Inami, Nippon-Tō, The Japanese Sword , p. 125
  13. ↑ Yasu Kizu: Swordsmiths of the Yamato School , p.2

literature

  • Hakusui, Inami, Nippon-Tō, The Japanese Sword , Kyoei Printing Co. 1948
  • Yasu, Kizu: Swordsmiths of the Yamato School , Hawley Publications 1991, ISBN 0-910704-15-5
  • Kōkan, Nagayama: The connoisseur's book of Japanese swords , pp. 154 ff.
  • Sesko, Markus: Genealogies and Schools of Japanese Swordsmiths , p. 35
  • Yumoto, John M .: The Samurai Sword - A Manual , p. 29 f.
  • Kapp, Leon / Yoshihara, Yoshindo: Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths - From 1868 to the Present , p. 17.
  • Tilley, William: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton , Christie, Manson & Woods International, Inc. 1992, ISBN 1-880907-00-3 , p. 38 ff.

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