Echizen Yasutsugu

Profile

The first Yasutsugu came from Shimosaka in Ōmi and early in the Keichō era moved to Echizen in the service of Yūki Hideyasu, son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Called to Edo by Ieyasu and Hidetada, he received the character «Yasu» from Ieyasu, hence his name, and permission to cut the Tokugawa hollyhock on the tang, so his blades are called Aoi Shimosaka; he worked in alternate years in Echizen and Edo. His manner is that of Seki, with itame, notare and gunome with sunagashi. After the fall of Osaka in 1615 he was charged with retempering the burned famous swords, which led to his copies, with more Sōshū-den influence. He used nanban-tetsu, imported iron, a great deal, and his carvings were done by the Kinai family of Echizen. After a dispute in the third generation, the line split into an Edo house, which reached the twelfth generation in Meiji, and an Echizen house, which reached the ninth.