-, 35th Session — Designated April 14, 1989
, : Ayanokōji (綾小路)
by Kodama Masami (児玉正美)
Measurements 69.6 cm, 1.8 cm, 2.6 cm, 1.7 cm, 2.7 cm, 21.2 cm, slight
Description Keijō: , , somewhat slender in build with . : with intermingled patterns; fine adheres well. : A dominant temper, mixed with and “ganmata”-like elements; and enter well; adheres well, and in places the shows an (moist/soft) tendency. : Straight, turning back in a rounded manner, with the tip showing . : None. : Greatly shortened (), ; file marks ; five ; unsigned.
Artisan Ayanokōji school (綾小路)
Era period (considered earlier than the conventional dating)
Explanation Among the swordsmiths who resided in Kyōto’s Ayanokōji are makers such as Sadatoshi and Sadayoshi. Sword reference works place Sadatoshi’s period of activity in the Bun’ei era (1264–1275), and one tradition even relates that Sadatoshi had contact with Kuniyuki.
However, the style seen in extant works is classical, resembling that of Kuniyasu and related makers. The shows closely spaced undulations within the , breaking into small-scale patterns and at times incorporating (double temper lines); the takes on an tendency. It is therefore reasonable to judge that the dating should be set earlier than the commonly held view.
Although this is greatly shortened and unsigned, the overall is formed of small, complex irregularity; the is somewhat ; small appear intermittently along the tops of the undulations; and the shows . In these respects, the characteristic features of the Ayanokōji group are well expressed.
