Archived Nihonto.ca (Yuhindo.com): Yosozaemon Sukesada

Yosozaemon Sukesada

The setting is Japan, in Bizen province. The time-frame is near the end of the Muromachi period. The country has been at war for decades, and will be at war for decades to come. The great artistry of the past, which began to decline in the Nanbokucho period, was on a continuing downward spiral. The seemingly endless war had sapped finances and desires for artistic and showy weapons. Instead, the rule of the day was for simple, quickly made, and almost disposable utilitarian weapons. Groups of smiths were working as teams in a near assembly line effort to crank out cheap weapons quickly in order to meet demand. Thus, in the haste of producing swords cheaply, and quickly as the Muromachi period unfolded, the old skills that made the finest swords in the past were lost.

It was a time of fierce fighting, and gave birth to the one handed katate-uchi, a shorter version of the uchigatana from the previous age, it was worn edge up. For these, the drawing motion translates into a striking motion, and he who struck first with these sharp swords inevitably would win. It was a simple man’s sword for fighting on foot, worn thrust through the belt, and it along with the increased presence of naginata and yari on the fighting field sounded the death knell for the noble horse borne tachi. It was too large, too slow, too bulky, and so the tachi surrendered its place in history to what would develop into the katana.

However, even in this time of darkness there were bright lights. Kanemoto in Akasaka, Mino held a brilliant rivalry with his brother-by-choice Kanesada of Seki. Both made interesting and powerful blades, with Kanemoto developing the seeds of what would be a new hamon, the famous sanbonsugi that became synonymous with the line of smiths that would bear his name well into the future. Works of his hand often represent the highest degree of sharpness a sword can attain. Kanesada, perhaps more artistic, was able to grasp elements of the waning Soshu and Yamashiro traditions. Working in these styles as well as his native Mino, he made swords that remained beautiful and were also renowned for their sharpness. Of swords and smiths tested and ranked in the Kaiho Kenjaku (pub. 1797), and Kokon Kaji Biko (1830) , there are sixteen smiths granted the highest rating (Sai-jo O-wazamono: supreme sharpness). Kanesada and Kanemoto each belong to that elite club.

This is also the era of the very famous Muramasa in Ise. He is a smith cloaked in mystery and myth; a maker of famous swords, often considered evil, cursed and deadly to the owner as well as the target.

Standing above them all in skill was the best of the many Sukesada smiths, Yosozaemon no jo Sukesada in Bizen province. His father was Hikobei no jo Sukesada, a great smith in his own right, eclipsed as a Sukesada only by the skill of his son.

The craft of Yosozaemon was a throwback to earlier times; his is a unique artistry for the Muromachi period, and he stands as the last truly great Bizen smith before this tradition too fades into history. As such, he is considered the representative smith of his period and school, together commonly referred to as Sue Bizen.

Yosozaemon no jo Sukesada had two sons, the nidai Yosozaemon and Genbei no jo Sukesada, both smiths of excellent skill and workmanship. There is a daito in Japan signed both by Yosozaemon and Genbei, and is the only one of its kind that I am aware of. Swords like this are particularly important because they prove a chronology, a similar sword signed both by Hikobei and Yosozaemon names Yosozaemon as the son. Similarly this daito implies a teacher/student relationship at least, if not a filial one, between Yosozaemon and Genbei.

There exists a sword dated Tenmon Rokunen (1538) Nanaju Issai (age 71), and since Yosozaemon died at the age of 76, we know the date of his birth and death, 1467 and 1542 respectively. Yosozaemon continued making swords right until he died, encompassing 42 Juyo Token in his work, and is rated Sai-jo Saku by Fujishiro for greatest quality of workmanship, and O-wazamono for great sharpness. He is valued at 1,000 man yen in the Toko Taikan, but in practice, pieces by him do not often come onto the open market (especially daito). A Juyo Token example by Yosozaemon Sukesada tends to command prices starting at $120,000 USD. That is, if one could even be found for sale. They do come up from time to time, but they disappear fast as he remains one of the most popular smiths among Japanese collectors.

Katana made in 1530 at the age of 63.

Work Style

There are many interesting elements in the work of Yosozaemon. Though his skill is unusual for his period, his work conforms to the style of Sue Bizen. This, we should look to the elements of the late Muromachi period in his work with superb execution. The representative tanto of the period tend to be short, with a shape that evokes thoughts of yoroi-doshi (Fujishiro p. 603 ko-shimarishita tanto), or otherwise those of the moroha-zukuri shape (pictured at the right). Katana were rather short, tending to be katate-uchi, so one would expect a shortish and stout nakago, with typical Bizen style nakago-jiri. One will expect the mune to be normal iori mune, and his mei will be confidently chiseled in smallish characters, with a slightly right leaning hand.

The nakago will have a typical Bizen shape as well, and one would expect the nakago mune to be a bit rounded at the machi, which will then slowly flatten out as it proceeds to the nakago-jiri. It is often somewhat elongated in terms of its relationship to the cutting edge. As the uchisori shape is a throwback to Kamakura times, this elongated nakago becomes a good kantei point in determining period.

The katana sugata that is traditionally associated (somewhat erroneously, sugata is determined by period more than school) with Bizen has most of the curve near the nakago. Beginning with Nambokucho the sori began to creep up the sugata, and in the Muromachi period you see saki sori, where the curve is evident near through the monouchi to the kissaki.

Utsuri is commonly associated with Bizen works, but by the late Muromachi utsuri had mostly disappeared, so we would not necessarily expect to see it in the work of Yosozaemon. He is well known for a fine mokume and itame kitae, and has produced works in an active gunome choji, gunome midare, suguha, notare, and hitatsura hamon all nioi deki. His work will appear bright and silvery. Ji nie are present, and can form hada hataraki such as chikei. Yosozaemon is famous for a hamon he invented, which is scarcely seen, called kani-no-sume or kani-no-hasami (crab claw, pictured in the following oshigata) as it looks like the pincers of a crab. The boshi will generally be a continuation of the hamon, most often with very deep kaeri.

His kitae is considered to be the best of his time, so when considering a piece that is extremely well forged, with otherwise typical Sue Bizen characteristics, Yosozaemon should come to mind. His work do not often bear horimono though some are present.

The consideration of mei is particularly important in Sue Bizen work. There are various forms of signature that one sees in the Osafune smiths. One tends to see the nijimei signatures, and signatures of the form Bishu Osafune Smith in the earlier Osafune periods.

In the Sue Bizen times, a tradition began to be held on the signatures which can indicate the quality of the work. Using Sukesada as an example, lowest quality would probably be mumei, and then Bishu Osafune Sukesada, which are often considered mass produced works (kazu-uchi “mass produced” or taba-gatana “bundled swords,” from being sold wrapped as a bundle rather than individually). They will most likely not have a date associated with them. As the signature becomes longer, moving to Bizen Kuni Ju Osafune Sukesada (Saku). These will usually have a date. The highest form will combine this signature with the name of the person ordering the work to be done, and these are considered chumon uchi (ordered works). They will most often have a date. Often on these, or without the client’s name, one will see a zokumei (personal name), in the case of this smith it will read, Bizen Kuni Ju Osafune Yosozaemon no jo Sukesada. Sue Bizen swords with zokumei are almost always considered chumon uchi, and almost always will bear a date. Generally, the rule of thumb is that the more information there is on the nakago, the better, when it comes to Sue Bizen smiths.

The mei is something that is important to note, as the names Hikobei, Genbei, and Yosozaemon are very often forged. If one sees a sword with zokumei by one of these smiths, it is a signal that the swordsmith has “signed off” on what he considers to be his best quality of work, special ordered for a client. Such a work will not contain forging flaws or low quality work. So if a lack of skill is evident on such a sword, one should be thinking it is gimei.

Furthermore, the signature form where Ju (lives in) precedes the town name Osafune is irregular in general, but it is the rule for Sue Bizen smiths. The english grammatical equivalent would be a sentence that says, “In California state, lives Los Angeles John Smith.” Because it is peculiar and specific to Sue Bizen, many forgers of these names make the mistake of placing Ju after the town name of Osafune, which would be normal for most everything else. However, in this case, it is a very strong clue to the sword being gimei, no matter what the rest of the sword might say to you.

Another note is to valuation. A sword with zokumei, in effect, already has the blessing of the swordsmith so would be given an easier path to Juyo papers than one bearing no zokumei. This does not mean that lacking a zokumei implies that a sword is lesser quality, as there are many that are Juyo without zokumei, and in one case there is even a Juyo katana by Hikobei no jo Sukesada that is signed Bishu Osafune Sukesada, one of the lowest forms of signature. There are rarely hard and fast rules in regards to Nihonto; one has to internalize as much information as possible and then make a judgment call according to one’s experience.

Because of all of this, Sue Bizen swords in general have signatures with implication far and above those of other periods and schools.