Kantei

Bizen-den

備前伝 (Bizen-den)

The Bizen tradition: the largest sword production in Japan, from twelfth-century Ko-Bizen to the Osafune of the age of war.

Style and characteristics

A nioi temper with chōji in every form — small in Ko-Bizen, lavish in Ichimonji, orderly in Osafune — and, above all, utsuri: the whitish reflection in the steel that follows the hamon and is the mark of the province. The jigane is a fine, soft itame or mokume.

History

The first names, those of Ko-Bizen (Tomonari, Masatsune, Kanehira), date from the end of the Heian period. In the Kamakura period the Ichimonji schools flourished and then Osafune, which with Mitsutada, Nagamitsu, Kagemitsu and Kanemitsu fixed the style of the province. In the Muromachi period Osafune produced on a large scale for war (Sue-Bizen), until the Yoshii flood of 1590 swept the village away. In the shinshintō period several smiths revived the Bizen style, and in the twentieth century it is the tradition most followed by contemporary smiths.

Smiths of the school

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