Fukuoka Ichimonji
福岡一文字派 (Fukuoka Ichimonji-ha)
The height of the Ichimonji: wide, magnificent tachi of the mid-Kamakura period, with the richest chōji and the liveliest midare-utsuri of Bizen.
Style and characteristics
Tachi with a wide mihaba and an ikubi kissaki, a ko-itame jigane and very marked midare-utsuri. The hamon is a broad nioi chōji, jūka-chōji or kawazuko-chōji, reaching almost to the shinogi.
History
It is the central stage of the Ichimonji school, in the mid-Kamakura period, with Yoshifusa, Sukezane, Sukemune and Norifusa among its names. Some of the most celebrated tachi in Japan come from here, such as the Sanchōmō; Sukezane, according to tradition, was called to Kamakura, where his work precedes the Sagami style. The Ishidō of the Edo period claimed descent from this school.