Tosa
土佐の刀工 (Tosa no tōkō)
The smiths of Tosa: a province that brought in its best smiths from outside, from Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki to Sa Yukihide.
Style and characteristics
Two layers: the old one, rooted in Yamato, with suguha and masame, and that of the Edo period, which follows Ōsaka with showy notare and gunome hamon. In the Bakumatsu, Sa Yukihide forged wide, strong-nie blades in the line of Sagami.
History
Tosa had few workshops of its own and its best smiths came from other provinces. Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki, trained in Ōsaka, settled there at the end of the seventeenth century in the service of the Yamauchi. In the Bakumatsu the leading names were Sa Yukihide, from Chikuzen, and Nankaitarō Tomotaka, a native of Tosa and a student of forging who worked mostly in Kyoto.
Smiths of the school
- Mutsu no Kami Yoshiyuki 陸奥守吉行
- Nankaitarō Tomotaka 南海太郎朝尊
- Sa Yukihide 左行秀