-, 67th Session — Designated January 1, 2021
, : (一文字)
Measurements 70.0 cm, 1.8 cm, 2.7 cm, 1.9 cm, 2.8 cm, 18.5 cm, 0.2 cm
Description Keijō: , ; standard with little taper from to ; thick ; though greatly shortened (), the curvature remains deep with pronounced ; . : fine well forged; extremely fine thickly applied; fine enter; appears. : a tall temper; mixed with , , and ; with and ; deep; adheres; appear; around the long sweep through; the is bright. : shallow ; rounded tip (), with a short . : None. : ; ; shallow ; two ; unsigned.
Artisan Attributed to the Fukuoka group (-), tradition.
Era Middle period.
Explanation Within the works of the period, the two greatest lineages are the and schools. The school continued to flourish from that time into the period in locales such as Fukuoka, Yoshioka, and Iwato, producing many skilled smiths. The reason this group came to be called “” derives from the practice of cutting the character “一” (“,” “one”) into the tang. As for signatures, some works bear only the single character “一,” while others add an individual name beneath it; still others bear only an individual name. In style, the school is characterized by ; in particular, the Fukuoka group of the mid- period produced many splendidly flamboyant works featuring large and .
Although this blade has been greatly shortened, it preserves a vigorous, robust form with deep ; the is excellent. The forging shows tightly knit , with beautiful , and clearly standing , yielding an exceptionally refined appearance. The temper is a boldly executed, high -centered pattern. Taken together with the overall shape, this work is positioned as a production of the mid- Fukuoka school. The is both soft and bright, and the piece is a gorgeously splendid (masterpiece) of an attribution to that school.
