Gassan Sadakazu

Profile

Born in 1836 in the Inukami district of Ōmi with the surname Tsukamoto, he was adopted at seven by the Osaka smith Gassan Sadayoshi, who taught him the craft; he used the art name Unryūshi. He mastered the Bizen, Sagami, Yamashiro and Yamato manners and revived ayasugi-hada, the wavy-grained jigane of the old Gassan smiths of Dewa. After the ban on wearing swords he left the forge for a time and later returned to it. In 1906 he was appointed artist to the imperial household (teishitsu gigeiin) and forged swords for Emperor Meiji and the imperial family; he is credited with designing the marshal's sword, modelled on the Kogarasu-maru. He was also a first-rate carver of dragons and Fudō figures. His son was Gassan Sadakatsu.