Archived Nihonto.ca (Yuhindo.com): Yamato Shizu
Yamato Shizu
| period: | Nambokucho (ca. 1370) |
| designation: | NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon |
| nakago: | O-suriage, 3 mekugiana (one mostly cut off) |
| nagasa: | 68cm |
| price: | N/A |
The wide and powerful sugata of this sword, and the extended kissaki, mark it as a blade from the Nambokucho period. It has been shortened several times in its life as can be seen from the condition of the nakago.
Yamato research is usually quite difficult, and swords found that belong to this tradition often get school designations rather than to individual smiths. In the case of Yamato Shizu, this phrase is used to describe both the Shodai Shizu Saburo Kaneuji, who was a smith of the Tegai school, and to his students.
Since the Shizu classification can be relatively opaque to new sword collectors, I will make a brief description here:
Yamato Shizu: used to describe the work of Kaneuji, and of his students while working in the Yamato tradition.
Shizu: used to describe the work of Kaneuji after his trip to Kamakura to learn under Masamune. Afterwards, he settled in the village of Shizu in Mino province and changed the Kane character of his name.
Naoe Shizu: the students of Kaneuji after his name change and relocation to Mino.
Kaneuji: usually reserved to describe blades that bear the signature of Kaneuji.
One must keep in mind that Yamato Shizu actually describes a line left behind by Kaneuji when he left for Kamakura. These smiths continued working throughout the Nambokucho period, and as a result, one must look to the period and work style of a particular sword to make the decision whether Yamato Shizu is a designation to the Shodai Kaneuji or his students.
This blade, firmly in the Nambokucho period, is of a style that would be too late to be the work of the Shodai, so it is the work of his students left behind in Yamato.
This old blade would have been a massive tachi, and unfortunately it shows several problematic areas with grain openings in the ji, ha, and in the shinogiji. Where the jigane is intact, it is quite beautiful, so this remains an enjoyable and fairly rare piece, earning its Tokubetsu Hozon designation from the NBTHK.
It would be an appropriate piece for a collector who wishes to have an old blade from one of the grand eras of the koto period.