Iyo Daijō Katsukuni

Profile

A line of swordsmiths working in Kanazawa, Kaga province, within the Darani (陀羅尼) school, whose roots lie in the Mino tradition. The first of the line to use the name Katsukuni had earlier signed Fujiwara Ieshige (藤原家重). Around the first year of Kanbun (1661) he received the honorary title Iyo Daijō, by tradition through the Maeda lords of Kaga, took the surname Tachibana (橘) and began signing Katsukuni. His immediate successors kept the title, so a signature alone does not always tell which generation made a blade, and the reference works do not number the generations in the same way. The usual signature combines these elements as 伊予大掾陀羅尼橘勝国 (Iyo Daijō Darani Tachibana Katsukuni), often preceded by Kashū jū or Kashū Kanazawa jū. The work follows its Mino inheritance: itame hada with areas of masame and a gunome hamon with pointed peaks, sometimes grouped in the manner of sanbonsugi, alongside blades in suguba. The name Katsukuni remained in use in Kaga until the end of the Edo period.