Ichimonji
一文字派 (Ichimonji-ha)
The smiths who signed with a single stroke, «one»: the most lavish chōji of Bizen, from Norimune to the Yoshioka of the Nanbokuchō period.
Style and characteristics
Tachi with koshizori, wide in the mid-Kamakura period, with a ko-itame jigane and midare-utsuri. The hamon is a nioi chōji that can reach jūka-chōji, in layers overlapping like petals. The signature is often only the character «ichi», a horizontal stroke.
History
Ko-Ichimonji is the name for the work of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, with Norimune as founder; Fukuoka Ichimonji for its height in the mid-Kamakura period; and Yoshioka, Katayama and Shōchū Ichimonji for the later branches. Several of its smiths appear in tradition among the monthly smiths of the retired emperor Go-Toba.
Smiths of the school
- Ichimonji Norifusa 一文字則房
- Ichimonji Norimune 一文字則宗
- Yoshioka Ichimonji Sukemitsu 吉岡一文字助光