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Oei-Bizen School応永備前派

The Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths represent the resurgence of the Osafune school in Bizen Province during the early Muromachi period, an era in which a conscious revival of Kamakura-period aesthetics transformed the character of Bizen swordmaking after the bold, expansive forms of the Nanbokucho period. The school's foremost representatives are Yasumitsu and Morimitsu, described by the NBTHK as the "twin pillars" of Oei-Bizen, both active around the Oei era (1394--1428). Morimitsu is held by one tradition to have been the son of Moromitsu, a representative smith of the late Nanbokucho *ko-zori* group, and his earliest dated works bridge the transitional character of his father's generation and the fully developed Oei-Bizen idiom. The name Yasumitsu was successively inherited through as many as five generations, while the succeeding Eikyo-Bizen phase -- centered on the fourth-generation Norimitsu and his contemporary Sukemitsu -- carried the tradition forward into the mid-Muromachi period. Related smiths such as Tsuneie of the Hatakeda branch worked in a manner so closely aligned with Osafune production that the NBTHK observes there are "no grounds -- whether in workmanship, the character of the signature, or any other point" by which their work could be distinguished from the main line. Within the Oei-Bizen manner, two principal modes of tempering are recognized. The first is a brilliant *midare-ba* in which open, relaxed *gunome* with *koshi-biraki* -- widely opened bases -- is mixed with *choji*, forming what the NBTHK describes as "a splendid, large-patterned, flamboyant *midare*." The second is a calm *suguha* of restrained, archaic tone that can, at first glance, "call to mind the workmanship of the Kamakura-period Ichimonji school or earlier Osafune traditions." In both modes the school's identity is revealed through shared forging characteristics: *itame-hada* mixed with *mokume* in which the grain stands out conspicuously, with dark lines resembling *chikei* entering the *jihada* and *midare-utsuri* or *bo-utsuri* standing prominently in the ground. The *hamon* characteristically incorporates *gunome* with widely opened hips, *ashi* and *yo* entering well, the temper *nioi*-dominant with *ko-nie* and a *nioiguchi* that is "bright and clear." The *boshi* assumes the idiosyncratic form popularly termed the "candlewick" (*rosoku no shin*), becoming pointed at the tip -- a diagnostic hallmark of the school. A further point of connoisseurship is the finishing of *bo-hi* with rounded ends (*maru-dome*) above the *machi*. The transition from Oei-Bizen to Eikyo-Bizen is marked by Norimitsu's development of a somewhat intermediary character, retaining the *koshi-biraki gunome* and bright nioiguchi of the earlier masters while introducing tighter grain and elements that point toward the eventual Sue-Bizen style. Moromitsu's earlier production establishes the bridge from the opposite direction, his *ko-zori* period works showing "signs foreshadowing the style of Oei-Bizen" in their more flamboyant midare passages. The ideal pursued by the Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths "appears to have been a revival of the Kamakura period," visible in their elegant *tachi* proportions and in the deliberate re-creation of *choji* tempering that had fallen out of favour during the Nanbokucho period. Yet the NBTHK consistently emphasizes that the school's own distinctive character is always discernible beneath this revivalist surface. Yasumitsu's production spans every format -- *tachi*, *katana*, *wakizashi*, *tanto*, and the exceedingly rare *omi-yari* -- and he is praised for leaving behind "highly skilled works in every format." Morimitsu's finest tachi preserve their original *ubu nakago* with imposing, deeply curved forms that convey the grandeur of an earlier age, while the vigorous internal activities within the tempered edge bring forth his strengths "without reserve." Both masters' works are consistently described as *kenzen* -- sound and well-preserved -- with a *jigane* of superior quality possessing an *urumi* richness. The school's influence pervaded early Muromachi sword production, and the Eikyo-Bizen continuation through Norimitsu ensured that the Osafune tradition maintained vitality and refinement well into the fifteenth century. Whether in the commanding vigour of the large-pattern choji-midare or in the quiet classical elegance of the suguha mode, the Oei-Bizen and Eikyo-Bizen smiths collectively represent one of the most accomplished chapters in the long history of Bizen swordsmithing.

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