The Yamato Hosho Tradition from Kamakura till the Present by Han Bing Siong Traditionally sword students distinguish five different major styles in Japanese swords according to the provinces. Some like Nagayama Kokan sensei, say there are six styles the Shinto being the sixth. Peculiarly, many Japanese sources in specifying the Goka Den first refer to the Yamashiro den, then to the Yamato den. Bizen den, Soshu den and Mino den in this sequence. Those sources, however, are unanymous as regards the Kogarasu Maru by Amakuni, presently in the Imperial collection, being the oldest curved Japanese sword. They are also unanymous on the point that Amakuni was a swordsmith of Yamato province. So why mentioning Yamashiro first rather than Yamato ? Moreover, as the book Shosoin no Token (p.xiii) points out the Yamashiro den must have its origin in Yamato, because swords of sanjo Munechika and Awataguchi Kuniyoshi, both prominent early swordsmiths of Yamashiro province, have niju ba. Nijuba...
Comments
Post a Comment