Yamato-den
大和伝 (Yamato-den)
The Nara tradition: the swords of the great temples, with masame and suguha as their marks.
Style and characteristics
Blades with a high shinogi and thick kasane, with an itame jigane through which masame runs, above all near the back. The hamon is a nie suguha with much activity along the edge: hotsure, uchinoke, nijū-ba, kuichigai-ba. The bōshi is often yakitsume or kaen.
History
It groups five schools that worked for the monasteries, whose armed monks needed sturdy blades: Senjuin, the oldest, Taima, Tegai, Shikkake and Hōshō. It flourished from the late Kamakura to the Nanbokuchō period; few smiths signed, and many blades are attributed by school. Its manner left a mark on other provinces, from Mihara in Bingo to Naminohira in Satsuma, and the Tegai line passed to Mino with the Jumyō lineage.
Smiths of the school
- Amakuni 天国
- Jumyō 寿命
- Kawachi Kunihira 河内國平