Kantei
A whole wakizashi blade, with its tang with three holes, on a white background.

Osafune lineage, in Bizen · Ōei-Bizen, 1394-1441

Osafune Yasumitsu (長船康光)

With Morimitsu, the great name of Ōei-Bizen, at the beginning of the Muromachi period

The Yasumitsu (康光, Yasumitsu) forged in Osafune, in Bizen, between the Ōei and Eikyō eras (1394-1441). Two generations are distinguished, and the first is, with Morimitsu, the great name of Ōei-Bizen (応永備前, Ōei-Bizen).

Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 FR, via Wikimedia Commons

Two
Generations
Ōei to Eikyō
Eras
1409 (Ōei 16)
Dated work in Kyoto
Ō-wazamono
Yamada cutting list
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Osafune Yasumitsu; the English version of the Yamada list calls him 左京亮康光 (Sakyō-no-suke Yasumitsu) AT
Kanji and reading
長船康光 (Osafune Yasumitsu) HD
Period
Beginning of the Muromachi period, from the Ōei era (1394-1428) to the Eikyō (1429-1441) AT
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen), in Osafune (長船, Osafune) HD
School
Osafune (長船派, Osafune-ha), in its Ōei-Bizen stage AT
Generations
Two; the second is said to have been Morimitsu’s younger brother AT
What is documented
Blades in museums in Kyoto, Tokyo, New York and Bern; the Kyoto one, signed and dated 1409 HD
What is not on record
A published biography, the date of the handover between the two generations and their earlier genealogy PC

In short

Ōei-Bizen is born in the Ōei era, when slender, elegant blades return. The Japanese Wikipedia calls Morimitsu and Yasumitsu, of the same line, the “peerless pair” (双璧, sōheki) of its masters. Both are in the second grade of the Yamada cutting list, that of ō-wazamono. The open sources on the Yasumitsu are few: there is no published biography, and what is known of their style comes mainly from what is written about Ōei-Bizen as a whole.

Sections

  1. Ōei-Bizen Life and times The two generations and the period in which they forged.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style Sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and mei.
  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.