Dōtanuki
同田貫 (Dōtanuki)
The unadorned swords of Higo: wide, thick and heavy, forged for Katō Kiyomasa at the end of the sixteenth century.
Style and characteristics
Blades with a wide mihaba, thick kasane and little sori, an itame jigane and a nie notare or gunome hamon, without refinement. Their fame is toughness, not beauty.
History
It came from a late branch of the Enju school and settled at Tamana; its great name is Masakuni, who worked for Katō Kiyomasa and, according to tradition, received the character «Masa» from him. With the fall of the Katō house in 1632 the school lost its lord; in the Bakumatsu the line revived with new smiths.
Smiths of the school
- Dōtanuki Masakuni 同田貫正国