Kantei
Detail of a polished blade with the white, wavy temper along the edge, a groove and a small engraving.

Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase · ColBase terms of use

Eikyō-Bizen · gunome-midare

Work and style

Short, narrow and elegant blades, with a small, gentle midare: this is how the NBTHK describes the work of Norimitsu, and the katana of 1459 is its best example.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. The katana of 1459, piece by piece
  3. The change of the Eikyō era
  4. Gallery

Kantei keys

Sugata
Many short and narrow blades, with a difference in width between the base and the point, a somewhat small point and a small, elegant shape, according to the NBTHK. For Sesko, the shape of the mid-Muromachi period: shorter nagasa, more taper towards the point, thicker kasane and more sakizori, in the passage from tachi to katana. HD
Jigane
Well-tightened ko-itame with fine ji-nie, in the katana of 1459 HD
Hamon
A small, narrow midare, with the peaks somewhat apart and some angular stretches, ko-ashi and yō, gentle in feel, according to the NBTHK. Sesko cites him among the Sue-Bizen swordsmiths with elements that open towards the base (腰の開いた, koshi no hiraita) and among those who temper nioi suguha. HD
Bōshi
Of a not very wide temper, according to the NBTHK; on the katana of 1459, midare-komi with a ko-maru turn-back. HD
Nakago and mei
On the katana of 1459, an unshortened tang (ubu), kurijiri tip, katte-sagari file marks and two holes, with a long inscription on both sides HD

The katana of 1459, piece by piece

  • Shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, a slight sakizori and a medium point (chū-kissaki); 68.1 cm long according to ColBase, with 1.9 or 2.0 cm of curvature. The Japanese Wikipedia gives it 68.2 cm, and Sesko 71.6 cm.
  • A gunome-midare hamon with ko-notare, with a tight nioiguchi, with many ko-ashi and yō.
  • A bōhi with soe-hi on both sides and, below, an engraved bonji and goma-bashi.
  • The Japanese Wikipedia describes it as somewhat slender but of very good steel and very good temper, and as one of the most representative works of Sue-Bizen. ColBase highlights its clear steel and its showy hamon.

The change of the Eikyō era

According to Sesko, from the Eikyō era (1429–1441) the elements of the Ōei-Bizen gunome-midare become smaller and narrower, and the valleys drop towards the edge; the hamon tends to carry yō. That Eikyō-Bizen is the intermediate step towards Sue-Bizen, and Norimitsu one of its names.