Archived Nihonto.ca (Yuhindo.com): Uda Tomotsugu

Uda Tomotsugu

The Uda school was located in Etchu province and has its roots in the Nambokucho period, and inherits from the Yamato tradition and the Soshu tradition through Norishige. In particular, echoes of Norishige come down through this group, and sometimes swords are found that resemble Norishige close enough to be hopeful, and end up being attributed to Uda.

This sword is ubu and signed by the Uda smith Tomotsugu.

There were several smiths signing Tomotsugu in the Uda school, beginning in the late Nambokucho (ko-Uda) end ending in the late Muromachi period. Fujishiro records three, one in 1381 (Chu-jo Saku), one in 1492 (Jo-saku), and one in 1532 (Chu-jo saku). In my opinion, this sword shows attributes that would place it in the later Muromachi period so is likely work of one of the last two.

As well in checking Fujishiro, the signature is a closer match to the last two generations, and the placement is similar (in the shinogi), where the earlier generation placed his signature in the middle of the nakago.

The NBTHK has authenticated the signature, but often times they do not supply the details as to which generation performed the work, leaving that as an exercise to the reader.

The jigane is a bit rough on this blade and shows some ware. However, in balance the midare hamon in chogi mixed with gunome is very interesting and complex, and looks like something one would find on a much older and classical blade. It features ashi, yo and sunagashi throughout. The construction of the blade is interesting with a high shinogi and narrow shinogiji, mixed features of Yamato and Soshu. There is some good study material available here and the sword is certainly an old warrior, that represents a nice package for someone who wants a complete, signed, authentic and unaltered koto sword.