UK Sword Register.
No. 67
Type: Sue-Bizen Daito
Nagasa: 59.5 cm Moto-haba: 2.6 cm Saki-haba: 1.7 cm
Sugata: Slender hon-zukuri with deep koshi-zori and some saki-zori, iori-mune and ko-kissaki.
Jihada: Tight ko-mokume-itame hada, some ji-nie
Hamon: Nioi-deki, large gunome-midare tending towards kami-no-hasami (crab claws) formed by ashi at the top of the gunome. Some togari-ba and tobiyaki. Continued into the midare-komi boshi which is ko-maru with kaeri.
Horimono: On the omote a ken sankozuka in ukibori in the lower part, with a bonji and futatsu-bi above it. A rendai (lotus leaf) appears at the top of the nakago, not visible on the fully assembled sword. The ura has koshi-hi ending in maru-dome located at the top of the nakago. Above this is a bonji and futasu-bi, similar to those on the omote.
Nakago: Suriage with 2 mekugi-ana plus another filled one near the jiri. Some machi-okuri and rendai carved at the top on the omote. Yasurime are kiri. On the omote there is kinzogan-mei (gold inlay inscription) reading BISHU OSAFUNE SUKESADA YO-?
This is a slender and gracefully shaped blade with a deep koshi-zori and is light in the hand and appears like a tachi sugata.. In fact, this sugata could be described in a number of ways, such as uchigatana, chisai-gatana, ko-tachi or even katte-mono as it is Sue-Bizen work dating from the later Muromachi period. I feel that ko-tachi is the most appropriate definition. The Sue-Bizen attribution is emphasised by the rather elaborate horimono which may be described as kasane bo-hi (more than two kinds of horimono on the same side) although there is a possibility that they are ato-bori (added later) judging by their position in relationship with the machi-okuri. At the time of this sword’s production, apart from kazu-uchi-mono (mass produced swords) relatively short uichigatana made for single handed use, were of similar length and were fashionable at the time.
The hamon, which is predominantly in nioi, is quite wide. There is a reasonably regular gunome which display many ashi and tend towards kani-no-hasami (crab-claw), The anonymous kinzogan mei to Sukesada seems quite reasonable and I would further speculate that it is possibly by Yososaemonjo Sukesada, judging from the hamon.
The jihada is difficult to see clearly, possibly due to the polish that it is in, however, it appears to be a very tight ko-mokume / itame that lacks utsuri.
The Sue-Bizen school flourished, along with the Sue-Seki in the later Muromachi period. Considering the large amount of swords produced at this time to supply the warring factions of the Sengoku period (many of which were kazu-uichi-mono) there are relatively few good quality swords extant. The name Sukesada features as the most common name representing Sue-Bizen and there were more than 40 smiths using this name. Some did produce superior workmanship, mostly for special orders, and of these Yososaemonjo Sukesada, followed by Hikobeijo and Genbeinojo Sukesada are considered to be the most skilled.
Incidentally, Yososaemonjo Sukesada was the son of Hikobeijo and there are gassaku swords (made by two swordsmiths) by Yososaemonjo and his father, as well as with Katsumitsu, Harumitsu and Kunimitsu. There is also a sword dated Tenmon rokunen (1537) which states that he was 71 years old at this time.
Yososaemonjo Sukesada is rated as Saijosaku by Fujishiro. This particular sword was confirmed as Sukesada by a NTHK shinsa, but no specific attribution to one particular Sukesada was made.
The above is my personal opinion only.
Clive Sinclaire
Bexley, June 2005