Introduction, the Sōshū school
Japan was long ruled by the imperial court in Kyoto, their traditional protectors were the sōhei, warrior monks. In 1180 AD, a civil war broke out between the imperial Taira clan and the warlord Minamoto no Yoritomo, who established the first shōgunate in 1192 AD with Kamakura in Sagami province as his capital. This commenced the feudal period of Japan, with the shōgun leading as a military dictator, protected by his samurai clans.
Various notable swordsmiths made their way to Kamakura to serve the new lords, including some notable Awataguchi smiths who once served the court in Kyoto. Their style was a refined hada with a small-dimensioned grain and a calm hamon. In Kamakura they came into contact with smiths of other pedigrees which resulted in a combination of styles that ultimately formed the Sōshū tradition, which is celebrated as the height in Japanese sword making.
Pivotal in this development were Shintōgo Kunimitsu, of Awataguchi training, and his students, among whom were Yukimitsu and Masamune, who, according to tradition, were father and son.
Introduction, Yukimitsu
"Yukimitsu is one of the most famous of Nihonto artisans in his own right, but he is also known as the father and teacher of Masamune, who is considered by many to be the greatest swordsmith in human history. Old books relate stories that Yukimitsu is his biological father, but it is more likely that Masamune was an adopted son or a brother as they both studied in the late Kamakura under under the exalted maker of tanto, Shintogo Kunimitsu. Joining them under Shintogo was the unique and masterful artist Norishige, and of the three Yukimitsu was considered the senior pupil. It was during this time, and through the work of this group, that the Soshu Den founded by Shintogo would establish itself as a pure and separate style.
Fujishiro rates each of the members of this founding group as Sai-jo saku, for highest level of skill. Yukimitsu also has an extremely high rating of 2,000 man yen in the Toko Taikan."
-Darcy Brockbank
Description of a Soshu Yukimitsu Juyo Token
Yuhindo archive
Based on two old oshigata of blades with dates of 1304 and 1322, his active period is believed to have been around 1300-1330s. His work style was versatile, showing the transition between Shintōgo Kunimitsu and Masamune.
"... the jihada is a dense ko- itame with many chikei and thick ji-nie and is excellently forged and looks “oily” as it is the case at the Awataguchi school, the hamon is a suguha, a suguha mixed with notare, or a slightly undulating notare, in any case in nie-deki with a wide nioiguchi and many kinsuji, that means Yukimitsu displayed the most Sōshū typical workmanship of all early Sōshū smiths and so he is regarded as founder of the Sōshū tradition by those who want to nail down the founding of the tradition to an individual smith.
"... Yukimitsu ́s oeuvre has always been known for its diversity, that means he was working in the more classic style of his master Kunimitsu, but he also made blades that virtually equal that of Masamune, and so to speak everything in between."
-Markus Sesko; Swordsmiths of Japan.
Lulu, 2014. Page 1378.
"... the Sōshū Joiden (upper grade) in which gunome midare and notare midare are fired in an extremely fine and beautiful jitetsu, which is very ambitious with this being full of nie. As for the four smiths, beginning with Shintōgo Kunimitsu and followed by Yukimitsu, Masamune and Sadamune, there is very little difference among them, and all of them held to their den methods. I think it is probably already agreed that they were artistically superior, but even the toko who were later born in Sōshū and lived there, could only make what is at first glance as different as clouds and mud, and 10,000 leagues apart. It is not an overstatement to say that the Sōshū Joiden completely ended with Sadamune."
-Kanzan Sato; Nihon To Koza (Lectures on Japanese Swords)
Original translation by Harry Afu Watson, I edited it for clarity
Published 1930s, edited & republished 1960s
Jūyō Sōshū Yukimitsu
An impressive wide tachi blade by Yukimitsu. The strength of the wide sugata is striking, providing a large surface to show off his brilliant technique. Immediately apparent is the excellent condition of the 700-year-old blade. It is in a beautiful polish, bringing out the steel in exceptional detail. It was possibly done by one of the great Hon'ami polishers of the previous century.
The hada consists of a small-dimensioned itame with mokume covered with a fine mesh of nie particles, consistent from base to tip. Another joy to witness is the health of the boshi, usually the first area on old swords to suffer but here it is still brimful of intact, sparkling nie.
While the hada reflects Shintōgo Kunimitsu's work with strong Awataguchi influence, albeit with stronger chikei, the undulating hamon in bright nie is nearly identical to that of Masamune. It lights up with the same intensity from hamon line to edge, is full of hataraki, and has long streaks of yubashiri just above the hamon much like how I saw it on this Masamune tachi I sold earlier.
The nakago has golden inlays, "Yukimitsu" on one side and "Hayami Sakon" on the other. Hayami Sakon was a samurai and local governor who also served as a "punisher". More on him later in this article.
Sword attributes
(With plain English below)
Sugata: Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune. Wide mihaba, relatively deep sori, somewhat elongated chū-kissaki.
(Overall form: Standard Japanese blade cross-section with ridged sides, ridged spine. Wide profile shape, relatively deep curvature with slightly elongated, standard sized tip.)
Jigane: Itame mixed with mokume with plenty of ji-nie and much chikei, the steel is clear.
(Steel: Regular wood grain mixed with burl grain. Many martensite crystals in the area above the temperline and many dark gleaming lines of martensite. The steel is clear.)
Hamon: Nie-laden ko-notare with a wide, bright, and clear nioiguchi that tends to suguha-chō from the monouchi upwards and that is mixed with ko-midare, ko-gunome, some prominent nie-kuzure, hotsure in places, yubashiri, kinsuji and sunagashi.
(Temperline: Small and undulating, full of visible martensite crystals with a wide, bright and clear demarcation. It tends towards a straight line at the main cutting portion of the blade upwards that is mixed with small undulations, small roundish elements, some prominent formations of crystals that appear like frayed fabric, lines that seem to stray from the hamon, areas of crystals that only show at smaller angle ranges than the rest of the hamon, bright lines within the tempered zone, and formations of crystals that look like brushed sand.)
Bōshi: Tending to sugu with a brief roundish kaeri with hakikake at the very tip.
(Temperline in tip: tending towards following the edge, with a round turning point with fraying at the very tip.)
Horimono: On both sides a bōhi which runs as kaki-tōshi through the tang.
(Carvings: one wide groove in the upper blade facet on either side that fades into the tang.)
Nakago: Ō-suriage, ha-agari kurijiri, sujikai-yasurime, one mekugi-ana, the sashi-omote side bears the kinzōgan-mei attribution “Yukimitsu” and the ura side the kinzōgan-mei “Hayami Sakon”.
(Tang: Greatly shortened with rounded tip, slanted file marks from upper left to lower right, one peg hole. The facing side bears the gold inlaid attribution "Yukimitsu" and the reverse shows the gold inlaid name "Hayami Sakon."
Jūyō papers
The blade passed Jūyō during the 50th session of 2008. It is one of only 22 long swords that are directly attributed to this smith. The description praises it as a masterwork among all known blades of this smith.
Description by the Jūyō shinsha team:
"Yukimitsu (行光), Masamune (正宗), Norishige (則重) and other fellow students under Shintōgo Kunimitsu (新藤五国光) perfected the Sōshū tradition that had been introduced by their master. Yukimitsu appears to be somewhat senior to Masamune and extant signed works of him are limited to tantō. His workmanship is described as being manifold in old sources, i.e. it is mentioned that apart from suguba, he also worked in midareba and occasionally also in hitatsura but the majority of extant works that are attributed to Yukimitsu mostly show a suguha or a calm and shallow midareba, with the jiba basically resembling that of Shintōgo.
This blade shows a kitae in itame that is mixed with mokume and that features plenty of ji-nie and much chikei. The steel is clear and the hamon is a nie-laden ko-notare with a bright and clear nioiguchi, that tends to suguha-chō from the monouchi upwards, and that is mixed with ko-midare, ko-gunome, kinsuji, and sunagashi. Particularly magnificent is the brightness and clarity of the jiba and the prominent kinsuji and sunagashi within the ha, identifying this blade clearly as a work by one of the great Sōshū masters, whereupon we were in agreement on the existing attribution to Yukimitsu. The fine and beautifully forged kitae is especially outstanding and together with the healthy jiba we have here a great masterwork among all blades attributed to this smith."
Translation by Markus Sesko
Tanobe sayagaki
In 2018, Tanobe Michihiro was asked to give his opinion on the blade, which he wrote on the shirasaya. Tanobe again praised the blade as a masterwork among all known blades by Yukimitsu.
相模國行光
Sagami no Kuni Yukimitsu
"Yukimitsu of Sagami Province."
第五十回重要刀剣指定品
Dai gojū-kai jūyō-tōken shitei-hin
"Designated as important sword at the 50th juyō-shinsa."
大磨上無銘.而二字ノ金象嵌銘ト四字ノ所持者ノ金象嵌有之.地沸厚ク地景入リ温潤ナル
板目ノ肌合ニ刃取ハ静穏ナレド沸匂深厚而砂流・金筋・湯走等ヲ頻リニ織成ス湾ニ小乱
交ジリノ刃文ヲ焼キ.地刃明ルク冴ヘ沸出来ノ妙ヲ存分ニ示ス同工極メノ優品也
Ō-suriage mumei. Shikashite niji no kinzōgan-mei to yoji no shoji no kinzōgan kore ari. Ji-nie atsuku chikei hairi onjun naru itame no hada-ai ni hadori wa seion naredo nie nioi shinkō shikamo sunagashi, kinsuji, yubashiri nado o shikiri ni shokusei-su notare ni ko-midare majiri no hamon o yaki. Jiba akaruku sae nie-deki no tae o zonbu ni shimesu dōkō kiwame no yūhin nari.
"The blade is ō-suriage mumei but bears a two-character kinzōgan-mei and another, a four-character gold inlay in the form of the name of its former owner. The blade shows “wet” looking itame with chikei and plenty of ji-nie. The hardening is an overall rather gentle notare but which features much nie and nioi and which is mixed with midare elements and an abundance of hataraki like sunagashi, kinsuji, and yubashiri. Both ji and ha are bright and clear and with the excellence of its nie-deki, we have here a masterwork among all blades attributed to this smith."
長貮尺二寸七分有之
Nagasa 2 shaku 2 sun 7 bu kore ari
Blade length 68.8 cm
戊戌高秋探山識「花押」
Tsuchinoe-inu kōshū Tanzan shirusu + kaō
"Written by Tanzan (Tanobe Michihiro) in the height of fall in the year of the dog (2018) + kaō"
Previous owner, Hayami Sakon
Now eternally connected to this historic blade through a golden inlaid inscription in the tang. His full name was Hayami Sakon Moritoshi (速水左近盛利). He was the eldest son of Morisada who was a retainer of Mizoguchi Hidekatsu (溝口秀勝), a Sengoku period samurai and early Edo period daimyō who lived from 1548–1610.
Hidekatsu was personally selected as a direct retainer of Oda Nobunaga, then became guard of Hideyoshi's headquarters, before being recognized as an independent daimyō of Shibata. During the Battle of Sekigahara he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu and was thus allowed to retain his position after Ieyasu became shōgun.
Morisada accompanied Hidekatsu from Takahama Castle in Wakasa province to Daishōji Castle in Kaga province, and finally, in 1598, to Shibata Castle in Echigo province where he received lands of 20 chō (ca. 50 acres) and served Hidekatsu for 17 years.
Hayami Sakon Moritoshi inherited these lands and was appointed as local District Governor (Sōtoku, 総督), and also held the position of local judge and punisher (Dangoku, 断獄). He served the second Shibata Daimyō, Mizoguchi Nobukatsu (1582–1628) and was in charge of area development, ponds, and wilderness of the fief and produced much fertile land which earned him fortune and praise. He gained another 12 chō of land before his death on the 22nd day of the fourth month of 1643.
His successor, Morikatsu (1620–1666), inherited lands valued 818 koku.
Research and translation by Markus Sesko
Kajikawa Chisui Enkakushi (加治川治水沿革史) or "History of Kaji River Flood Control"
Published in 1926 by the Kajikawa Flood Prevention Association
Chapter on prominent local figures involved with flood control
CV of Hayami Sakon (速水左近), page 538
Koshirae
It comes with an associated, perfectly fitting koshirae set with quality parts. The hilt is wrapped with dark blue silk, the scabbard is lacquered black. The tsuba is made of black nanako shakudō and signed Ujishige (氏重) with Hozon papers of 2013.
The kashira is made of horn. The fuchi, kōgai, kozuka, and menuki are also all made in shakudō with a black nanako ground, decorated with the hollyhock mon of the ruling Tokugawa clan. Kōgai, kozuka and menuki are unsigned but come with NTHK papers attributing them to the late Edo period Yoshioka school. The nanako is of very high quality.
I believe this set was put together in recent times by a previous collector, using high-quality antique parts. The silk is new, and the horn kashira may be new as well. It is however a very tasteful ensemble that represents the typical understated style worn by top level samurai who served the shōgun and daimyous at their courts. They would have been part of their formal dresscode during specific assemblies.
