UK Sword Register 70
Type: Koto Katana
Nagasa: 74.0 cm Moto-haba: 3.3 cm Saki-haba: 2.4 cm
Sugata: Large hon-zukuri, wide mi-haba, iori-mune and o-kissaki. Shallow tori-zori, bo-hi on both sides ending in kaki-otoshi.
Jihada: An outstanding ko-mokume, some itame with ji-nie and some chikei. A faint shirake like utsuri is present.
Hamon: Ko-nie-deki, with nioi, quite a wide nioi-guchi. The ura is in suguha with a suguha boshi with slight midare, which ends in a somewhat pointed ko-maru, with kaeri. The omote is based on suguha, but with distinctive saka-ashi and squareish gunome, the omote boshi appears somewhat “deformed” ands is ko-midare-komi, almost nijuba and is ko-maru with kaeri, some yo and sunagashi are also seen throughout.
Nakago: Ubu with 3 mekugi-ana, indistinct but possibly sujikai yasurime, ending in ha-agari kuri-jiri, mumei. Possible a small amount of machi-okuri.
This sword has the classic length and sugata of the Nambokucho period. The kissaki is large and “thrusting” whilst the mihaba is wide with only slight tapering towards the kissaki and a noticeably shallow curvature. All dimensions are in proportion to the length of the sword which is quite healthy and retains a thick kasane. The jihada is beautiful and homogenous and liberally sprinkled with ji-nie and some chikei. The ko-nie-deki hamon and the presence of utsuri indicate that this sword is a sword in Bizen-den but with Soshu-den influence. The boshi on the ura is typical of Motoshige being suguha but with a slight midare and rather pointed but ending in ko-maru with a short kaeri. The omote is somewhat irregular and unusual. In fact this sword was attributed by the NBTHK to the Bitchu-Aoe school in the first instance and subsequently to Motoshige of Bizen, Osafune. Saka-ashi, a feature of this blade is found in both and the two are easily confused.
As a Motoshige blade, this sword may be categorised as so-called Soden Bizen that was active in the Namboku-cho period. At the end of the Kamakura period, the overwhelming popularity of Soshu-den even influenced the swordsmiths of Bizen province and the hybrid Soshu / Bizen swords became known as Soden. However, it seems that this influence mainly extended to the large, wide sugata of Soshu-den, and the inclusion of some nie, as swords such as the one under discussion here, retain mostly Bizen characteristics such as a smallish jihada and utsuri.
According to various sources, it would seem possible that there were 2 generations of Motoshige as there are examples of work in both the earlier Kamakura period style and the Namboku-cho period style. Interestingly, the earlier one (known as Ko-Motoshige) signed blades on the so-called katana-mei rather than on the tachi-omote as was usual at the time – an unusual idiosyncrasy of the Aoe school. Others favour the opinion that there was only a single generation who had a long working life of over fifty years, and modified his style of working according to the changing times. The question of one or two generations is discussed (as well as among other references) by Fujishiro in Nihon Koto Jiten. If the two generations theory is correct, this sword is made by the nidai who is popularly thought to have been one of the three pupils of Sadamune.
The jihada on this sword is outstanding and is quite compact and homogenous and this may have a contributing factor to the Aoe attribution where the so-called chirimen-hada is to be found. The nakago appears to be ubu although it is quite short for the length of the sword. There is a slight possibility that it is suriage and that the nakago-jiri has been reshaped, but I doubt this is the case.
This sword came in shin-gunto mounts (which probably accounts for the top mekugi-ana) and it is surprising that such a fine blade was taken into the battlefields of World War 2.
Fujishiro rates Motoshige as Jojosaku, dates him from around the Kenmu period (1334) and considers his blades to be Saijo Owazamono. This sword has recently been designated as Juyo Token by the NBTHK.
Clive Sinclair
Bexley
July 2005