Hokke Ichijō
一乗 (Ichijō)
Lineage: the signature does not state the generation
The name that heads the Hokke school of Bingo, in the Muromachi; the only dated work that bears it, from 1431, is signed by Saneie, son of the first Ichijō according to tradition.
Profile
Ichijō is the name that heads the Hokke school of Bingo, for that reason also called Hokke-Ichijō, one of those that arose in the province in the Muromachi alongside those of Mihara and Tomo. Its smiths signed «Bingo Kusado», after Kusado, the town on the banks of the Ashida river, in present-day Fukuyama, whose excavated ruins are known as Kusado-Sengen.
Markus Sesko publishes the only dated work that can be cited: a wakizashi of 1431 (Eikyō 3) signed «Bingo Kusado Ichijō» and, after that, by Saneie, whom tradition makes the son of the first Ichijō. The earliest dates in circulation for the name have no publishable source. He is not Gotō Ichijō, the 19th-century mounting artisan.
Notable works
- Wakizashi signed «Bingo Kusado Ichijō» and by Saneie, dated the fifth month of 1431 (Eikyō 3), 47.3 cm; published by Markus Sesko.