Glossary

Glossary

Anideshi 兄弟子

Senior pupil of the same school.

Ashi 足

Lines of nie or nioi that run down from the hamon towards the edge.

Bōhi 棒樋

Straight groove along the blade. Kaki-nagashi (掻き流し): it ends inside the nakago.

Bōshi 帽子

Temper line in the kissaki.

Chikei 地景

Dark, shining lines of nie within the steel of the body.

Chōji 丁子

Hamon shaped like clove buds. Jūka-chōji (重花丁子): with buds crowded one on top of another. Gunome-chōji (互の目丁子): chōji mixed with gunome, that of the Chōgi school.

Gunome 互の目

Hamon of repeating semicircles.

Hamaguri-ba 蛤刃

Convex edge, like a clam: more niku, more endurance.

Hamon 刃文

The pattern of the hardened edge.

Hitatsura 皆焼

Temper that covers almost the whole blade, with hardened patches across the body.

Hizukuri 火造り

Shaping the blade with the hammer, while hot.

Honsanmai 本三枚

Three-piece construction: core, edge and back.

Iaidō 居合道

The art of drawing and cutting in a single movement.

Ichimon 一門

A master’s school: he and his pupils.

Itame 板目

Steel pattern like the grain of a plank.

Jigane 地鉄

The steel of the body of the blade and its pattern.

Kasane 重ね

The thickness of the blade.

Kissaki 切先

The point.

Kōbuse 甲伏せ

Construction with a soft core wrapped in hard steel.

Kogarasu-maru 小烏丸

Ancient sword double-edged along half of the point (kissaki-moroha-zukuri), and its copies.

Koshirae 拵

The complete mounting: tsuka, tsuba and saya.

Mokume 杢目

Steel pattern like the grain around a knot in wood.

Mukansa 無鑑査

“Exempt from judging”: the swordsmith whom the NBTHK admits to its exhibition without going before the jury.

Nagasa 長さ

The length of the blade, from the mune-machi to the point.

Nakago 茎

The tang, which goes inside the tsuka.

Ōdachi 大太刀

A very long tachi, of more than three shaku.

Omamori-gatana 御守刀

Amulet tantō; it gives its name to a competition of the Zen Nihon Tōshōkai.

Oshigata 押形

Full-size drawing of a blade and its hamon.

Sanchōmō 山鳥毛

Fukuoka Ichimonji tachi, a National Treasure, kept by the city of Setouchi.

Shinken 真剣

A real sword, with an edge, for cutting.

Shitaji-togi 下地研ぎ

The first stages of polishing, those that give the shape.

Shōbu-zukuri 菖蒲造

Blade without a yokote, shaped like an iris leaf.

Sōden-Bizen 相伝備前

Bizen-den with features of the Sagami (Sōshū) school: that of Chōgi and of Osafune Kanemitsu, of the 14th century.

Sori 反り

The curvature of the blade.

Tamahagane 玉鋼

The steel of the tatara, the traditional furnace.

Tameshigiri 試し斬り

Test cutting on tatami or bamboo.

Tatara たたら

Traditional furnace for smelting steel.

Tobiyaki 飛焼

Scattered hardened patches above the hamon.

Tokushō 特賞

NBTHK special prize, above the Yūshūshō.

Tsuchioki 土置き

Laying the clay on the blade before hardening: it decides the hamon.

Utsuri 映り

Light reflection in the steel, above the hamon, typical of early Bizen.

Utsushi 写し

A work made in the manner of an old sword.

Yaki-ire 焼き入れ

The hardening.

Zantetsuken 斬鉄剣

“The sword that cuts iron”: the nickname of Kobayashi Yasuhiro’s blades.