Kantei

Osaka shintō · Kunisuke family · 17th century

Higo no Kami Kuniyasu (肥後守国康)

A name of Osaka swordsmiths of the family of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke: the chōji-midare, the ō-wazamono grade and the little that is known of its generations

Higo no Kami Kuniyasu (肥後守国康) is a name of swordsmiths of Osaka, in Settsu province, of the early Edo period. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the first was the third son of the first Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke and stood out in the chōji-midare temper line. The Yamada cutting list places the first among the ō-wazamono, the second of its four grades, and by calling him “the first” implies that there was at least one other.

At least 2
Generations
Ō-wazamono (2nd of 4)
Cutting rank
West maegashira
1933 ranking
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Higo no Kami Kuniyasu, a name borne by more than one generation AT
Kanji and reading
肥後守国康 (Higo no Kami Kuniyasu): 肥後守 (Higo no Kami) is the title, and 国康 (Kuniyasu) the name HD
Period
Early Edo period; shintō (新刀, shintō) AT
Province
Settsu (摂津, Settsu), in Osaka AT
School
The shintō swordsmiths of Osaka, in the family of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke AT
Lineage
According to Japanese Wikipedia, the first was the third son of the first Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke; his brothers were Musashi no Kami Kunitsugu, the eldest, Naka-Kawachi, the second Kunisuke, and Ise no Kami Kuniteru, the youngest AT
Title
Higo no Kami (肥後守, Higo no Kami), one of the honorary titles that were engraved in the signature (受領銘, zuryō-mei) HD
Generations
At least two: the Yamada cutting list singles out the first; the sources consulted give neither the name nor the dates of the second II
Rank
大業物 (ō-wazamono), the 2nd of the 4 grades of the 懐宝剣尺 (Kaihō Kenjaku), for the first; west maegashira in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking (1933, published in 1935) AT
What is documented
A 51.6 cm wakizashi from a private collection, shown by the NBTHK in 2020 HD
The tradition
His dates, his civil names and the division of the work between the generations are not recorded in any of the sources consulted PC

In short

Japanese Wikipedia says that his strength was the 丁子乱れ (chōji-midare), that his technique is not inferior to that of his brother Naka-Kawachi and that some works of his surpass his brother’s; that many of his katana have obtained the NBTHK’s Tokubetsu Hozon paper, and that he is a swordsmith “for connoisseurs” (玄人好み, kurōto-gonomi). The Japanese Wikipedia page carries notices that it lacks sources.

Sections

  1. Osaka · the Kunisuke family Life and times The family of the first, the generations and who he is confused with.
  2. Chōji-midare Work and style His temper line, his signature and what the sources do not describe.
  3. Ō-wazamono · the NBTHK Famous works The Yamada cutting list and a wakizashi shown by the NBTHK in 2020.
  4. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted.