Kantei
Old black-and-white photograph of a long, curved tachi blade on a dark background, with the tang on the left.

Smith of Yamashiro (Kyoto) · early Kamakura

Awataguchi Hisakuni (粟田口久国)

The second of the Awataguchi brothers of Kyoto, forging instructor to the retired emperor Go-Toba around 1200 and maker of a tachi that is a National Treasure: what is documented, the tradition, his style and his works

Hisakuni forged at Awataguchi, at the entrance to Kyoto, around 1200. Tradition makes him the second son of Kuniie and forging instructor to the retired emperor Go-Toba; from his hand survive a tachi that is a National Treasure and a few more blades, of steel so tight that almost all experts consider him the best of his school.

文化財協会 (Bunkazai Kyōkai; 『国宝図録』, Kokuhō Zuroku, vol. 1, 1952), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1200
Active around
1
National Treasure tachi
80.4 cm
Nagasa of the National Treasure
1216
Death, according to a book of 1792
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Awataguchi Hisakuni AT
Kanji and reading
粟田口久国 (Awataguchi Hisakuni) AT
Period
Early Kamakura, around 1200 AT
Province
Yamashiro: Awataguchi, at the entrance to Kyoto AT
School
Awataguchi (粟田口派, Awataguchi-ha) AT
Family and master
Second son of Kuniie, the de facto founder of the school, according to tradition; brother of Kunitomo and Kunitsuna, among others AT
Title
大隅権守 (Ōsumi Gon no Kami), the first provincial title received by a smith AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his signed blades and their official designations. Tradition: the kinship of the brothers, which no document of the time proves, and the dates of birth and death AT

In short

According to tradition, Hisakuni was the second son of Kuniie and the second of the so-called six Awataguchi brothers. The retired emperor Go-Toba had him among his rotating smiths (御番鍛冶, goban-kaji), made him his forging instructor and gave him the title of Ōsumi Gon no Kami. For Markus Sesko, almost all experts consider him the best of the Awataguchi: slender and elegant tachi, a ko-itame of unequalled density and a ko-nie suguha full of fine activity. His major work is a tachi of 80.4 cm, a National Treasure, in the keeping of the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Sections

  1. Awataguchi · Go-Toba · Ōsumi Gon no Kami Life and times The Awataguchi school, the retired emperor Go-Toba, his title and the dates given by a book of 1792.
  2. Dense ko-itame · ko-nie suguha Work and style The kantei keys: sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and signature, with the katana of the Tokyo National Museum in five photos.
  3. Kokuhō · Important Cultural Properties Famous works The tachi that is a National Treasure, the designated blades and those in museums, those that bear his name without being his and his place in the treatises.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit of each image.