Satsuma-tō
薩摩刀 (Satsuma-tō)
The swords of southern Kyūshū: from the old Naminohira blades to the violent nie of Satsuma shinshintō.
Style and characteristics
In the shinshintō period, wide, heavy blades with a long kissaki, abundant ara-nie and long twisting lines of nie in the temper, the imozuru, which are the mark of the province. The jigane is a strong itame with chikei. The old blades, by contrast, keep the sobriety of Naminohira.
History
The Naminohira school worked in Taniyama from the Heian period and for centuries made plain, sturdy blades. At the end of the Edo period, with the Jigen-ryū style of swordsmanship, staked on a first stroke, the Shimazu domain backed a new generation of smiths — Oku Motohira, Ijichi Masayoshi and Hōki no Kami Masafusa — who looked to Sagami and forged blades made to strike with their full weight.
Smiths of the school
- Ijichi Masayuki 伊地知正幸
- Izu no Kami Masafusa 伊豆守正房
- Nagayama Sukehiro 永山祐広
- Oku Motohira 奥元平
- Oku Motohira 奥元平
- Satsuma Masayoshi 薩摩正良