Shimosaka
下坂派 (Shimosaka-ha)
The school of Shimosaka village, in Ōmi: from spear makers to the house of Yasutsugu, smith to the Tokugawa.
Style and characteristics
An itame jigane with a somewhat dark tone and a nie hamon, sometimes uneven, of notare and gunome, with a bōshi of Sanpin shape. The tang file marks are usually katte-sagari.
History
It began as a group of spear makers in Ōmi at the end of the Muromachi period. After the battle of Sekigahara its smiths followed lords with ties to Ōmi and spread across several provinces; the Echizen branch, with the first Yasutsugu, was the most important and worked for the shogunate. Sagami no Kami Kunitsuna, Ōmi no Kami Tsuguhiro and Hirotaka also came from this school.
Smiths of the school
- Chikugo Kanenori 包則
- Echizen Yasutsugu 越前康継
- Echizen Yasutsugu 越前康継
- Echizen Yasutsugu 越前康継
- Hirotaka 汎隆
- Sagami no Kami Kunitsuna 相模守国綱
- Shimosaka Kanenobu 下坂兼信
- Shimosaka Sadatsugu 下坂貞次
- Shimosaka Tsuguhiro 下阪継広