Sue-Aoe
末青江 (Sue-Aoe)
The last stage of the Aoe school: large Nanbokuchō blades, with more nie and a suguha that opens into gunome.
Style and characteristics
The blades grow with the age: long, wide tachi, a large kissaki and the occasional ōdachi. Sumigane becomes rarer and the temper gains nie; the suguha mixes with gunome and saka-chōji. The file marks remain ō-sujikai.
History
It covers the Nanbokuchō and early Muromachi periods, with names such as Tsuguyoshi, Moritsugu and Tsugunao. Afterwards the school fades, and the later smiths of Bitchū, such as those of Mizuta, claimed descent from it without any document to support it.