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About the maker

Hatakeda Morishige守重

Morishige is traditionally transmitted as a swordsmith of the Hatakeda line within the Bizen Osafune school. According to the *meikan* (smith directories), he is recorded as a son of the second-generation Moriie and as the father of Motoshige, with extant dated works bearing era names spanning from Einin and Kagen through Showa, Bunpo, and Gen'o — all corresponding to the closing phase of the Kamakura period. Distinguishing a first and second generation Morishige is considered somewhat forced; in broad terms he should be regarded as a swordsmith of the late Kamakura period. Smiths using the same name succeeded the founder, and they continued working through the Muromachi period under what reference works identify as the Omiya group, so called because the founder is said to have moved from Omiya in Yamashiro. In all cases, however, their signatures state "Bishu Osafune-ju" (resident of Osafune in Bizen Province), making it clear that their place of work remained Osafune. The Muromachi-period generations are recorded from Oan (1368–1375) through to the end of the Muromachi period, with dated examples surviving from the Oei and Bunmei eras. The Kamakura-period works characteristically display *itame-hada* — at times a dense *ko-itame* mixed with *mokume* — with *midare-utsuri* standing out vividly in the *ji*. The *hamon* is typically a *suguha-cho* basis mixed with *gunome*, into which *ko-ashi* and *saka-ashi* enter; the *nioiguchi* tends toward tightness (*shimari-gokoro*), and *ko-nie* adheres throughout. Some works exhibit *kataochi-gunome* reminiscent of Kagemitsu, revealing a pronounced Osafune character rather than a distinctly Hatakeda manner. Indeed, the presence of *midare-utsuri* in the forging and the *suguha-cho* composition with intermingled *gunome* share aspects in common with the style of the Nagamitsu group, suggesting that by this period the Hatakeda school had for the most part become assimilated into the Osafune tradition. Compared with Moriie, the workmanship tends to be subdued (*sabishii*), with a pronounced *ko-nie* tendency. The Muromachi-period generations, by contrast, are characterized by a more flamboyant, large-patterned *midareba*, featuring *koshi-biraki gunome* mixed with *choji*, accompanied by *tobiyaki*, *kinsuji*, and *sunagashi* — works that at a glance can be mistaken for Oei-Bizen in their showy manner. Extant signed works by Morishige are exceedingly few, and it has not been possible to exhaustively examine the full range of his workmanship across all generations. Those examples that survive, however, provide valuable source material for understanding the breadth of his working range and the historical relationship between the Hatakeda and Osafune lineages. Several bear date inscriptions that serve as important reference points for the study of this smith. The overall workmanship — from the clarity of the *kane-iro* to the well-applied *ji-nie* and tight *nioiguchi* — demonstrates sound technical accomplishment, and the best examples are noted for being *kenzen* (well-preserved) in both *ji* and *ha*.

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