Sources

Sources

Museums and heritage

1. ColBase, Tokyo National Museum: katana by Yosōzaemon-no-jō Sukesada, 1523 (F-17086)
2. ColBase, Tokyo National Museum: katana by Shinsutero Sukesada, 1572 (F-15820)
3. ColBase, Tokyo National Museum: large spear by Sukesada, 1504 (F-15922)
4. ColBase, Tokyo National Museum: sword by Yokoyama Sukesada, 1919 (F-282)
5. ColBase, Kyūshū National Museum: katana by Genbei-no-jō Sukesada, 1577 (F90)
6. ColBase, Kyoto National Museum: katana by Sukesada, 1568 (E甲212)
7. Bunka Isan Online (文化遺産オンライン, Bunka Isan Online): 長船祐定 (Osafune Sukesada), Tokyo National Museum
8. Bunka Isan Online: katana by Yokoyama Sukesada, 1666
9. Okayama Prefecture: designation of the katana by Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada (PDF)
10. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: katana by Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada, 1677 (2018.833.20)
11. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: wakizashi by Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada (36.120.420)
12. Wikimedia Commons: Bizen Osafune Sukesada

NBTHK

1. NBTHK, catalogue of the exhibition 受贈記念 受け継がれる日本刀 (Juzō kinen: uketsugareru Nihontō), 2025
2. NBTHK, catalogue of the exhibition 日本刀の見方 (Nihontō no mikata), part I: 姿 (sugata), 2019

Studies

1. Markus Sesko, “A brief outline of the changes in workmanship of the later Bizen tradition”
2. Markus Sesko, “The great flood of the Yoshii River”
3. Markus Sesko, “Some thoughts on Sue-Bizen horimono”
4. Markus Sesko, “Kantei 1: Sugata #2”
5. Markus Sesko, “Kantei 1: Sugata #6”
6. Markus Sesko, “Kantei 3: Hamon & Bōshi”
7. Markus Sesko, blades of the NBTHK Shijō Kantei, 1998-2024 (PDF)
8. Japanese Sword Index, “Judging sharpness”

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias

1. Kotobank: 祐定 (Sukesada), Nihon Jinmei Daijiten+Plus
2. 長船派 (Osafune-ha), Japanese Wikipedia
3. 刀剣の業物一覧 (Tōken no wazamono ichiran), Japanese Wikipedia
4. List of Wazamono, English Wikipedia
5. 中国地方の重要文化財一覧 (Chūgoku chihō no jūyō bunkazai ichiran), Japanese Wikipedia
6. 岡山県指定文化財一覧 (Okayama-ken shitei bunkazai ichiran), Japanese Wikipedia

Image credits

1. Katana by Shinsutero Sukesada, of 1572 (Genki 3). Tokyo National Museum (katana-1572.jpg)

   ColBase, Tokyo National Museum (F-15820).

2. The point of the 1572 katana (katana-1572-kissaki.jpg)

   ColBase, Tokyo National Museum (F-15820).

3. The tang and the habaki of the 1572 katana (katana-1572-nakago.jpg)

   ColBase, Tokyo National Museum (F-15820).

4. Katana by Genbei-no-jō Sukesada, of 1577 (Tenshō 5): the carving 八幡大菩薩 (Hachiman Daibosatsu) and the tang. Kyūshū National Museum (katana-1577-horimono.jpg)

   ColBase, Kyūshū National Museum (F90).

5. Katana blade by Sukesada with Fudō Myōō (不動明王, Fudō Myōō), of the 16th century. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (walters-katana.jpg)

   Walters Art Museum, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

6. Large spear (大身槍, ōmi-yari) signed 備州長船祐定 (Bishū Osafune Sukesada), of 1504 (Eishō 1). Tokyo National Museum (yari-1504.jpg)

   ColBase, Tokyo National Museum (F-15922).

7. Katana signed 備前国住長船祐定 (Bizen no kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada), of 1568 (Eiroku 11). Kyoto National Museum (katana-1568.jpg)

   ColBase, Kyoto National Museum (E甲212).

8. The mounting of the 1523 (Daiei 3) katana by Yosōzaemon-no-jō Sukesada. Tokyo National Museum (koshirae-1523.jpg)

   ColBase, Tokyo National Museum (F-17086).

9. The 1677 katana by Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada, in its cane mounting (shikomizue). The Metropolitan Museum of Art (met-1677-montura.jpg)

   The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

10. The blade of the 1677 katana. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (met-1677-hoja.jpg)

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

11. Wakizashi by Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Sukesada, of the 17th century, with its mounting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (met-wakizashi.jpg)

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.