The divided-courts war impoverished the court society that had sustained Kyōto’s most refined work. With the last Rai masters the classic line effectively closed, while Hasebe and Nobukuni carried the new Sōshū manner into the capital.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchSugata (Shape): Shinogi-zukuri with an Iori-mune. Wide mihaba and a thick kasane at the base, giving the blade a powerful and massive build. A shallow sori that curves toward an extended ō-kissaki, reflecting the bold construction widely seen during the Nanbokuchō period. Weight excluding the Habaki: 768 grams, giving a substantial feel in hand. Jitetsu (Forging Pattern): Itame-hada, mixed in places with large streaming grain and showing areas tending toward Masame hada. Fine Ji-nie is thickly applied overall, with places showing Yubashiri-like activity. Horimono (Carvings): A Naginata-hi carved near the base, chiselled half way into the Nakago. The Shinogi-ji has been shaved off where a groove of bō-hi is carved. Hamon (Temper Line): Nie-deki Suguha-based shallow Notare mixed with ko-gunome, including ko-gunome with a slanting tendencies. The boundary Ha-buchi is thickly covered with ko-Nie; ko-ashi appear frequently and isolating dots of Yō can be seen within the Hamon. In the Hira-ji, there are Yubashiri reminiscent of Tobiyaki. Bōshi: On both Omote and Ura, the Bōshi is an irregular Midare-komi with a sweeping Hakikake finish, tending toward Yakizume-end. Nakago: Ō-suriage, unsigned. Nakago-heel is horizontal Kiri. Two mekugi-ana. Yasurime is horizontal Kiri. “Chiyozuru” 千代鶴 refers to swords forged by the Chiyozuru Kuniyasu school 千代鶴国安 active in Echizen Province from the mid to late Nanbokuchō period. Chiyozuru Kuniyasu 千代鶴国安 is said to have been the grandson of Rai Kunisue 来国末 of Yamashiro Province. According to tradition, Rai Kuniyasu 来国安 moved to Echizen around the Jōji era, becoming the founder of the Chiyozuru school 千代鶴. Kuniyasu 国安 is known to have signed both “Chiyozuru” 千代鶴 and “Rai Kuniyasu”来国安. Together with smiths such as Rai Munemitsu 来宗光 and Morihiro 守弘 the Chiyozuru group is also collectively referred to as Echizen Rai 越前来. This sword has a strong and robust construction with a thick Kasane at the base, while the Shinogi-ji has been pared down to emphasize cutting-thgough ability. Its form follows the Nagamaki-zukuri style that became prevalent during the Nanbokuchō period, particularly around the Enbun and Jōji eras. The Jigane is slightly dark in tone, with a mixture of Itame and flowing hada, showing an outstanding grain. Fine Ji-nie is densely applied, with delicate Chikei appearing frequently. The Hamon consists of a wide Suguha-based shallow Notare mixed with ko-gunome and Saka-ashi and the Bōshi is irregular with sweeping Hakikake. While the blade clearly exhibits Rai-school characteristics of the Nanbokuchō period in both Ji and Ha, it also possesses a distinct northern provincial character, leading to its attribution as Chiyozuru 千代鶴. Fitted with a solid silver single-layer Habaki. Preserved in a Shirasaya. reference: Masakuni Ishii, Kanzan Honma, Nihontō Meikan, Yūzankaku, 1975 (Shōwa 50)
Offered by Sanmei
9 on the market
Yamashiro-den · Echizen
9 pieces on the market now
The Chiyozuru lineage took root in Echizen Province during the Nanbokuchō period, and the setsumei consistently trace its origin to Rai Kuniyasu (来国安). He is said to have been born in Yamashiro Province, with one tradition holding him a grandson of Rai Kunisue; he later moved to Echizen, where the meikan place him around the Jōji and Sadaji eras (ca. 1362 to 1368). A parallel tradition, recorded on the signed tachi attributed to Morihiro, names Chiyozuru Kuniyasu[[c:1]] as a disciple of Rai Kuniyasu and the founder of the line. From this root descend the smiths the blades document: Morihiro (守弘), placed in the Kuniyasu line across two generations, the first set in the Ōei era (1394 to 1428) and the second in the Kakitsu (1441 to 1444) and Bun'an (1444 to 1449) eras; and Mitsuyuki of Tsuruga[[c:2]], recorded as a student of Echizen Kuniyuki and known from a rare Kakei-dated tantō. The Yamashiro inheritance runs through the whole group, even as the workmanship moves away from the Kyoto homeland into a provincial Hokuriku register. Two stylistic strands run through the corpus, and recognizing the hand means reading where a given blade falls between them. The Rai-derived work, seen in the katana attributed to Rai Kuniyasu, shows itame mixed with mokume and nagare-hada, the grain tending to stand (hada-dachi) with thick ji-nie and frequent chikei; the steel carries a whitish or, in places, slightly blackish cast that the setsumei read as a provincial inflection of Yamashiro.
The hamon on these is a chū-suguha mixed with ko-gunome, the edge breaking into hotsure, kuichigai-ba, and nijūba, with ashi, yō, kinsuji, and sunagashi running through and a bright nioiguchi; the bōshi enters midare-komi or shallow notare-komi, turning in ko-maru with hakikake, at times vigorous enough to give a flame-like (kaen) impression. The Morihiro strand turns toward a gunome-based midareba with a chōji tendency, tobiyaki, and muneyaki, the forging moving toward masame near the edge; the setsumei mark this gunome-toned, nie-laden manner as differing in character from the Rai style and proper to the later line. For kantei, the setsumei set the diagnostic problem plainly: a Chiyozuru blade can at first glance resemble the orthodox Yamashiro Rai work, particularly around Rai Kunimitsu, yet careful reading of the standing grain, the whitish or blackish jigane, and the rustic activity in the bōshi beyond what the Kyoto homeland shows directs the attribution to Echizen. The boldest Nanbokuchō pieces, wide in mihaba with ō-kissaki and muneyaki, invite comparison with Hokuriku contemporaries such as Etchū Tametsugu (越中為継), but the character of ji and ha keeps them within the Chiyozuru fold. Signed examples anchor the line: Morihiro tachi and a Kakitsu 1 (1441) dated wakizashi carrying his Tōzaemon no Jō name, and the Mitsuyuki tantō whose Kakei date makes it documentary material of high value, dated works of the group being extremely scarce. The Morihiro tachi of Jūyō-Bijutsuhin standing is recorded in the Kōzan Oshigata, Kokon Kajibikō, and Kantō Zuiroku. Across the corpus the line holds a distinct place among Nanbokuchō and early Muromachi Hokuriku smiths, carrying a Yamashiro pedigree into a workmanship the appraisers read as its own. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kuniyasu國安 | 1345-1350 | 4 |
| Ieyoshi家善 | 1487-1489 | 0 |
| Kagemori景守 | 1394-1428 | 0 |
| Munemitsu宗光 | 1441-1444 | 0 |
| Iemasa家正 | 1492-1501 | 0 |
Yamashiro in the Nanbokuchō period
The divided-courts war impoverished the court society that had sustained Kyōto’s most refined work. With the last Rai masters the classic line effectively closed, while Hasebe and Nobukuni carried the new Sōshū manner into the capital.
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
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¥850,000