Kantei
A wakizashi in its mounting, with a black hilt and a brown scabbard, on a light background.

Osafune lineage, in Bizen · from Sue-Bizen to the Edo period

Osafune Sukesada (長船祐定)

The most repeated name of Sue-Bizen, from the Sengoku workshops to the Yokoyama branch of the Edo period

Sukesada (祐定, Sukesada) is the most repeated name of Sue-Bizen (末備前, Sue-Bizen), the last stage of the Osafune school: several dozen swordsmiths signed it between the Meiō (1492-1501) and Tenshō (1573-1592) eras, and the Yokoyama branch kept it alive in Osafune throughout the Edo period.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Several dozen
Swordsmiths with that name
1504 (Eishō 1)
Dated spear in Tokyo
Ō-wazamono
Yamada cutting list
A katana of 1521
Important Cultural Property
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Osafune Sukesada; many signatures add the personal name: 彦兵衛尉 (Hikobei-no-jō), 与三左衛門尉 (Yosōzaemon-no-jō), 源兵衛尉 (Genbei-no-jō) HD
Kanji and reading
長船祐定 (Osafune Sukesada); a tantō of 1518 in the Tokyo National Museum writes it 裕定 (Sukesada) HD
Period
Sue-Bizen, end of the Muromachi period; the Yokoyama branch, in the Edo period AT
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen), in Osafune (長船, Osafune) HD
School
Osafune (長船派, Osafune-ha) HD
Master
No single master: relatives and pupils worked under the same name AT
Generations
Several dozen, with no complete genealogy published; the Nihon Jinmei Daijiten (日本人名大辞典, Nihon Jinmei Daijiten) has entries for four AT
What is documented
Dated blades in museums, from 1504 to 1577, and from the Yokoyama branch, from 1666 to 1919 HD
What is not on record
The exact number of Sukesada and the order of their generations PC

In short

In the Sengoku, Osafune produced in series, and relatives and pupils signed with the same name: that is why there are dozens of Sukesada. The most gifted were Yosōzaemon-no-jō and Hikobei-no-jō, at the beginning of the 16th century, followed by Genbei-no-jō. After the flood of the Yoshii river, around 1590, the Yokoyama family went on forging under the name in Osafune; its leading figure in the 17th century was Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada. There are works of theirs in the Tokyo, Kyoto and Kyūshū National Museums, in the Okayama Prefectural Museum and in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Sections

  1. One name for dozens of swordsmiths Life and times The collective workshop of the Sengoku, the Yoshii flood and the Yokoyama branch.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style Sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and horimono.
  3. In museums, shrines and lists Famous works The documented works and their place in the Yamada cutting list.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.