War at home and trade abroad made Muromachi Bizen the busiest forge region in Japan: a century of Sengoku demand after the Ōnin War, and export missions to Ming China carrying blades by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchIntroduction The village of Osafune in Bizen was for centuries one of the main production centers of Japan, producing anything from mass-produced bundled swords to absolute masterpieces. It was wiped out by a Yoshii river flood and mudslide in the 1590s.1 One of the most notable lines of smiths of the 16th century were the Sukesada smiths. Hikobei no Jō Sukesada (彦兵衛尉祐定) and his son Yosozaemon Sukesada (与三左衛門尉祐定, 1466-1542), were the two top smiths of the entire Sue-Bizen (late Bizen) school. Fujishiro Matsuo rated both their works sai jō saku (最上作), the highest possible classification reserved for grandmasters, and Yamada Asaemon V ranked their swords as ō-wazamono for extreme sharpness.2 Swords from the Sukesada workshops in Osafune typically came in several varieties. Low grade tabagatana (束刀) or "bundled swords" were sold unsigned. Medium grade swords were signed Bishū Osafune Sukesada (備州長船祐定) with sometimes a date. Medium to high-grade swords were signed Bizen Kuni ju Osafune Sukesada saku (備前國住長船祐定作) with often a date. And then special order art swords were signed with the personal name of the smith. So generally, the longer the signature and the more information it contains, the better. But it's not always that simple. and shorter signatures do not always indicate lesser work. A case in point is a Juyo Token ranked katana, attributed to Hikobei no Jō Sukesada that is signed only Bishū Osafune Sukesada. I guess sometimes a master couldn't help himself, even when not deliberately producing art swords. Notes 1. Markus Sesko; The Great Flood of the Yoshi River. 2. Markus Sesko; Swordsmiths of Japan A-Z. Lulu Inc. 2015. Page 1033. And Fujishiro Matsuo; Nihon Toko Jiten. Koto Hen. Tokyo 1973. Also see my glossary article: Yosōzaemon jo Sukesada (与三左衛門尉祐定) This 16th-century Sukesada katana A hefty, unshortened 16th-century Bizen katana forged during the rise of warlord and one of the "three great unifiers" of Japan, Oda Nobunaga. It is signed Sukesada, one of the most famous lines of Bizen smiths of the period. The blade has a strong sugata with relatively long kissaki. The deki is typically Bizen with an active mokume forging pattern, but with a calmer hamon than usually seen, full of hataraki. Sword attributes (With plain English below) Sugata: Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune. Wide mihaba, shallow sori, elongated chū-kissaki. (Overall form: Standard Japanese blade cross-section with ridged sides, ridged spine. Wide blade with shallow curvature with slightly elongated standard tip.) Jigane: Itame mixed with mokume. (Steel: Regular wood grain mixed with burl grain.) Hamon: Suguha-cho hamon in nioi with chikei and sunagashi. Nijuba. (Temperline: Based on a straight hamon, executed in a fine mist of martensite crystals. Some formations of crystals look like brushed sand, and there are black gleaming lines. Areas with a double hamon) Bōshi: Sugu with a brief round kaeri. [<- not finished] (Temperline in tip: Following the edge, with a small round turning point.) Nakago: Ubu, iriyamagata; sujikai-yasurime, one mekugi-ana. (Tang: Unshortened, with a V-shape tip where the edge side is longer than the back side, slanted file marks from upper left to lower right, one peg hole. Signature & smith The nakago is signed with the "medium to high grade" longer signature using the character kuni (國) in the typical format of the Bizen Osafune smiths of the period: 備前国住長船祐定作 Bizen [no] Kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada saku Made by Sukesada, resident of Osafune in Bizen Province 永禄十一年八月日 A day in the 8th month of the 11th year of Eiroku (August 1568) Only two smiths signed like this around that date and they were both a son of one the two best late Bizen smiths: the 2nd generation Hikozaemon and 1st generation Yosōzaemon Sukesada. Their sons were also highly regarded by Fujishiro. 3rd generation Hikozaemon Sukesada was a jō-saku rated smith, and 2nd generation Yosōzaemon Sukesada, jōjō-saku rated smith. Notes 1. Markus Sesko; Swordsmiths of Japan A-Z. Lulu Inc. 2015. Page 1034. 1969 NBTHK Kicho papers The sword comes with NBTHK Kicho papers dated 19 January, 1969, signed by then NBTHK president Hosokawa Mamoru. The owner of the sword is also mentioned: Mr. Nishiki Saburo. This is most likely one of the Nishiki Saburo who lived in Honolulu, since this sword was acquired for the current owner by a student of the famous Japanese sword polisher Robert Benson, who is based in the same town and who had a lively collecting circle around him.1 The papers reiterate the signature and confirms its authenticity. Earlier NBTHK papers are generally less reliable but this concerns mostly the green papers. On this particular sword I have no doubt that the papers correct, and upon re-submitting it will definitely pass in the modern system. Notes See Nishiki Family History Koshirae The sword comes in an understated but high-quality set of koshirae. The sleek hilt is of a style that was favored in Higo, with simple mounts that were flush with the grip. It features a tsuka with very fine ajirokumi-agemaki wrap consisting of wound threads that form braids. The hilt and scabbard mounts are made of shibuichi silver alloy, with subtly beaten surfaces. The simple iron tsuba is in the form of 16th-century tsuba and clearly an homage to work of that period, but of much more recent manufacture. I'm thinking late Edo at best, possibly into the Meiji period. The saya looks just black at first glance but is lacquered in layers and engraved with diagonal scratches that subtly mimic falling rain. It also has clouds and birds carved out on both sides at the bottom. Conclusion A nice package with a heavy, strong blade made during a period of intense civil war that ultimately lead to the unification of Japan under Tokugawa Ieyasu. The long signature indicates it was a special order, where a little more attention was paid on the forging than the mass-produced swords of the era, leading to many hataraki visible in the hamon. The koshirae is understated but close inspection shows it to be of a very high-quality manufacture. The hilt follows the sleek design favored in Higo with well-crafted mounts of simple design but a high level of finish.
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Sue-Bizen Osafune (Sukesada) · Bizen · around 1547-1592
Fujishiro Jo saku
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The designated works that survive under the Hikozaemon-no-jo Sukesada signature are ubu and dated, seven katana and one double-edged tanto, the earliest the Tenbun 16 (1547) katana that carries beside its long signature a nine-character kuji-in seal, the auspicious characters Daikichi, and a bonji, and the latest the Tensho 4 (1576) commission made for Wada Izumo no Kami of Harima. The name Sukesada is the great late-Muromachi name of Osafune, carried by a body of Sue-Bizen smiths of whom the most highly regarded bore distinguishing common-name titles: Yosozaemon no Jo, Genbei no Jo, Hikobei no Jo, and the Hikozaemon no Jo whose blades are gathered here. The published sources are candid that Hikozaemon no Jo stands somewhat lower in name than the first two, yet they judge these particular blades especially well made, one of them "a representative masterwork among Sue-Bizen swords"[[c:1]]. His hand is the mature Sue-Bizen katana, and the signature itself runs in three same-signature generations, read off the Meikan as a first in Eisho, a second in Tenbun-Eiroku, and a third in Genki-Tensho.
The distinguishing matter of his work is a single declared division of manner. The published sources state it almost verbatim across the corpus: the work of this period divides broadly into a koshi-biraki gunome-midare that develops into a compound, layered form, and a suguha-cho into which ashi and yo enter[[c:2]]. The first is the flamboyant pole. Over the jigane he tempers a midare whose valleys open at the base, deeply hardened, the gunome building into the doubled fukushiki structure, abundant ashi and yo within it, ko-nie attaching, with sunagashi and kinsuji running through; on the most agitated of these the nioiguchi is bright, while on others it grows subdued. The second is the quiet pole, a suguha-cho or broad suguha carrying ashi and yo well, ko-nie with sunagashi, the nioiguchi tending toward a tightened look, and on one Tensho katana yubashiri and a touch of tobiyaki gather around the monouchi. Most blades fall clearly into one mode or the other, and on several the judges name which.
The jigane is the constant beneath both manners. It is a compact ko-itame, on the broader katana an itame, well forged and tight, with ji-nie attaching; on one blade it tightens so far as to appear muji-like, almost featureless, and on another it loosens into a standing hada (hada-dachi) mixed with mokume and carries muneyaki along the back. The forging is where the judges most often single him out: of the Tenbun 16 katana they write that the kitae is "outstanding"[[c:3]], forged in itame with ji-nie and abundant chikei, presenting overall "a strongly steely character"[[c:4]]. The boshi answers the hamon mode: midare-komi turning ko-maru, sometimes deeply tempered into a yakizume-like tip on the flamboyant blades, and a ko-maru with a long return, pointed, or faintly hakikake on the suguha ones. The sugata is the late-Muromachi katana throughout, a broad shinogi-zukuri with iori-mune, sakizori, and an extended chu-kissaki tending to an o-kissaki, the shinogi at times shaved high.
The generations are read directly off the nakago, since the blades are ubu and each carries a long signature on the omote with a date on the ura. The published sources date a piece, then place it against the three Hikozaemon no Jo of the Meikan: the Tenbun 16 and Tenbun 17 katana as the second generation, the Tensho 1 and Tensho 4 katana and the Tensho 1 tanto as the third. The working range they call broad, taking in koshi-biraki gunome, suguha, and hitatsura alike, and in each they perceive a high level of technique; they say it of the second generation on the Tenbun 17 katana and repeat it of the third on the tanto. The lengthening of the blade and of the nakago across these dates is read as a sign of the age: the tachi had fallen entirely out of use, and in its place the long uchigatana came to be worn and used two-handed with the development of swordsmanship, so the Sue-Bizen dimensions grow accordingly. The tanto, a moroha-zukuri of Tensho 1 designated at the sixty-sixth session, is a little larger than the double-edged tanto of the Bunmei and Eisho years, which the sources read as the colour of the late Muromachi. Over a compact ko-itame with ji-nie fine as dust, fine chikei and a faint utsuri, it carries a broad suguha-toned temper mixed with gunome and ko-gunome, mura-nie in places, fine sunagashi and kinsuji, the nioiguchi bright and clear, and a deep boshi running pointed with a long return. The sources judge it of outstanding workmanship[[c:5]], and it is accompanied by an Edo-period aikuchi koshirae. The two modes and the three generations are orthogonal, the one a matter of manner and the other of date, and a full reading of any blade gives both.
Within his school he belongs to the dense Sue-Bizen Osafune body of the late Muromachi, the last great phase of the long Osafune line. The published sources rank Hikozaemon no Jo among the representative masters of the Sukesada group together with Yosozaemon no Jo, Genbei no Jo, and Hikobei no Jo, the smiths whose works, in their words, are foremost for the number of fine pieces and for especially high technical skill. His own distinction is read not by borrowing a comparison but by his own grounded traits, the two declared modes held on a tight ko-itame with ji-nie and the steely forging the judges praise, the descent kept within the one name rather than carried out to other lines. The Tenbun 16 katana, of which they say swords bearing the same signature are few, they call for that reason a representative work of the second generation.
Fujishiro rates the smith Jo-saku, and his designation record is modest: eight works on record, all at the Juyo level, the higher designation tiers not among them. They are a body of late-koto katana and one tanto held in private and long-recorded hands, and one of recorded whereabouts appears from time to time rather than rarely, a more findable thing than a Kamakura tachi though not on that account common. Provenance survives clearly on one: the Tensho 4 blade was made for Wada Izumo no Kami, a resident of Banshu, its owner inscription reading that it was "to be handed down through the generations of that house"[[c:6]], so that the katana descended through the Wada family as a heritable sword. For a collector the Hikozaemon no Jo Sukesada is the approachable end of a famous name, a dated and signed late-Bizen katana on which the two-mode reading and the generational frame can be worked out in the hand, and on the best of which, as the published sources say of the Tenbun 16 piece, the forging is outstanding.
Where Sukesada stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
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Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Bizen-den · Bizen
Phase: Sue-Bizen末備前· 1441–1596
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The last great chapter of Osafune unfolds in the Eisho and Tenbun years of the late Muromachi, when the riverside workshop turned its accumulated craft toward an age of constant war. Where Oei-Bizen had looked backward, reviving the tachi shape and the choji temper of the Kamakura masters under Yasumitsu and Morimitsu, Sue-Bizen faces forward into Sengoku demand. The leading hands carry the same family characters one generation further: the Sukesada group, headed by Yosazaemon-no-jo Sukesada and the Hikobee-jo Sukesada said to be his father, alongside Katsumitsu (often Jirozaemon-no-jo), Munemitsu, Tadamitsu of the Heiroemon-jo line, and the Kiyomitsu smiths Magoemon-no-jo and Gorozaemon-no-jo. The setsumei draw a sharp line through their output. Commissioned blades, chumon-uchi, were signed with full zokumyo, dated, and frequently inscribed with the name of the ordering party, as on the Katsumitsu and Sadamitsu naginata of Meio 8 made for the Miyake of Kojima, a house that fed into the Ukita. Below them ran the bulk trade of kazu-uchimono, the arms that supplied the warring provinces, and it is the chumon-uchi masters that the designations preserve. What the steel does in this window is distinct from every earlier Osafune register. The shape is the uchigatana: wide mihaba with thick kasane, pronounced sakizori, an extended chu-kissaki or o-kissaki, and a short nakago suited to the katate-uchi one-handed draw, a body unlike the koshizori tachi of Ko-Osafune or the broad Nanbokucho profile of Soden-Bizen. The forging tightens into ko-itame over which a midare-utsuri stands faintly rather than vividly, weaker than the bright reflection of the founding generation.
The signature temper is the open-waisted koshi-no-hiraita gunome, splitting at the heads into fukushiki compound midare and mixed with togariba and choji; it is nioi-based with ko-nie and a bright nioiguchi, with ashi, yo, kinsuji and small tobiyaki worked through. Against this, Soden-Bizen had pushed Soshu nie and notare, while the founders had tempered flamboyant choji over a vivid utsuri. Two specialties branch off the gunome base: the Kiyomitsu and Tadamitsu suguha, calm and tightly forged, and the hitatsura of high-tempered pieces with long muneyaki and yubashiri, seen in the warlord-smiths Akamatsu Masanori and Ishikawa Yukihisa. To kantei a Sue-Bizen blade is to read the body first and the temper second. The compact uchigatana sugata with thick kasane and a short tang fixes the late-Muromachi date; the faint utsuri over dense ko-itame keeps it in Bizen; the open-waisted compound gunome names the group. The masters then separate by hand: Katsumitsu is set apart by the abundant choji he folds into the gunome, yielding a more florid, brilliant dekiguchi than his peers; Tadamitsu and the Kiyomitsu smiths are read out by their suguha, with Magoemon-no-jo's itame standing in mokume to distinguish his ground. The cutting reputation is documented directly, as on the Hikobee-jo Sukesada katana of Keicho 5 carrying a tameshi inscription naming the tester Ichihara Hachibee. Provenance threads through the supplementary signatures: Masanori's reward blades cut for his retainers, the Miyake names tying the workshop to the Ukita, and the Shinjuro Sukesada whose few large works may have ended in the Tensho flood. The horimono carried from the mainline, bonji with rendai, Fudo Myoo, and shrine dedications, persist on these blades as a final mark of the line. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Sukesada祐定 | 1504-1551 | 72 |
| Sukesada祐定 | 1532-1583 | 18 |
| Sukesada祐定 | 1547-1592 | 8 |
| Sukesada祐定 | 1487-1521 | 5 |
| Sukesada祐定 | 1532-1573 | 3 |
Bizen in the Muromachi period
War at home and trade abroad made Muromachi Bizen the busiest forge region in Japan: a century of Sengoku demand after the Ōnin War, and export missions to Ming China carrying blades by the tens of thousands.
This work carries older NBTHK “Kichō”-era papers, which the NBTHK no longer issues and largely disavows today. To confirm the attribution, submission to an official Japanese examination body (such as the NBTHK or NTHK) for modern certification could be considered.
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