Kantei

Long, slender and light

Work and style

Most of what is known about his style comes from the official record of the Ōkanehira; his tachi with the short signature tend to be more slender and with a smaller hardening.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. The measurements of the Ōkanehira
  3. Those with the short signature
  4. The Ōkanehira, up close

Kantei keys

Sugata
In the Ōkanehira, shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune, ikubi kissaki, high koshizori and funbari; a thin blade, 3.7 cm wide at the base and 2.5 cm at the tip HD
Jihada
In the Ōkanehira, compact ko-itame with ji-nie, chikei and midare-utsuri HD
Hamon
In the Ōkanehira, ko-midare with ashi and a deep nioiguchi, with ko-nie and kinsuji; in those with the short signature, usually a small hardening HD
Bōshi
In the Ōkanehira, midare-komi with a shallow kaeri and nijū-ba HD
Nakago
In the Ōkanehira, unshortened (ubu), with katte-sagari yasurime and two mekugi-ana HD
Mei
Usually 包平 (Kanehira) in two small characters; the Ōkanehira, the long signature 備前国包平作 (Bizen no kuni Kanehira saku), cut with an ōtagane on the front HD

The measurements of the Ōkanehira

The official record gives it a blade of 89.2 cm, a sori of 3.4 cm, a width of 3.7 cm at the base and 2.5 cm at the tip and a kissaki of 3.7 cm, and wide bōhi on both sides. The sori does not agree: Japanese Wikipedia, e-Museum and ColBase give 3.5 cm. It weighs 1.35 kg, very little for its length, according to Japanese Wikipedia.

Those with the short signature

The record of the Ōkanehira in e-Museum explains it: many works by Kanehira have a thin blade and a small hardening, with the small two-character signature; the Ōkanehira, by contrast, is a great sword with the long signature.

The Tsuchiura City Museum keeps an unsigned tachi attributed to Kanehira, of the early Kamakura: shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune, narrow and with almost no difference in width between the base and the tip, with little koshizori and a ko-kissaki; a suguha hardening with ko-notare, itame jigane with midare-utsuri, shortened, with three mekugi-ana, a blade of 71.5 cm and a sori of 1.4 cm.