Ko-Hōki
伯耆の刀工 (Hōki no tōkō)
The smiths of Hōki: the iron-sand country of Chūgoku, where Yasutsuna forged some of the oldest surviving tachi.
Style and characteristics
Early tachi with deep koshizori and marked funbari, a strong itame jigane with chikei, and a nie ko-midare hamon, loosely ordered and very active. It is the style of the first curved blades.
History
The region was rich in iron sand and tatara furnaces, and at the end of the Heian period Yasutsuna worked there, the maker of the tachi Dōjigiri, one of the tenka goken. He was followed by Sanemori and other names of Ko-Hōki, which is what the province’s work of the Heian and Kamakura periods is called. In the Meiji era Miyamoto Kanenori, a native of Hōki, was appointed artist to the imperial household.
Smiths of the school
- Aritsuna 有綱
- Hōki Hiroyoshi 広賀
- Ōhara Sanemori 真守
- Yasutsuna 安綱
Famous swords
- Dōjigiri Yasutsuna 童子切安綱