Kantei
Three old black-and-white photos of a curved blade: the point, the tang with holes and signature and a groove carved with a relief, and the whole blade.

Swordsmith of Kyoto (Yamashiro) · Rai school · mid-Kamakura

Rai Kuniyuki (来国行)

The founder in practice of the Rai school, in the mid-Kamakura period, and his tachi “Akashi Kuniyuki”

Rai Kuniyuki (来国行) worked in Kyoto in the mid-Kamakura period and is, in practice, the founder of the Rai school. He signed only 国行 (Kuniyuki), without the name of the school. Almost all his work is tachi, robust or slender, and one of them, the “Akashi Kuniyuki”, is a National Treasure.

文化財保護委員会 (Bunkazai Hogo Iinkai, Committee for the Protection of Cultural Properties), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1
National Treasure
more than 24
Designated by the State
more than 80
NBTHK Jūyō
17
Tokubetsu Jūyō
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Rai Kuniyuki; he signed 国行 (Kuniyuki); also known as 来太郎 (Rai Tarō), according to tradition AT
Kanji and reading
来国行 (Rai Kuniyuki) HD
Period
Mid-Kamakura; no documented dates of birth or death (生没年未詳, seibotsunen mishō) AT
Province
Yamashiro (山城, Yamashiro), in Kyoto AT
School
Rai (来派, Rai-ha), of the Yamashiro tradition: its founder in practice AT
Lineage
Son of Kuniyoshi (国吉, Kuniyoshi), according to tradition; father of Rai Kunitoshi (来国俊, Rai Kunitoshi) AT
What is documented
Many signed blades, among them a National Treasure designated in 1953 HD
The tradition
That the school descends from immigrants from Korea, that Kuniyoshi founded it and that he died in 1297 aged 79: all of it comes from later books AT

In short

Tradition makes Kuniyoshi the founder of the Rai school, but no secure work of his remains: the real founder is Kuniyuki, who worked in Kyoto in the mid-Kamakura period and was the father of Rai Kunitoshi. He made almost only tachi, wide, with a high koshizori and an ikubi kissaki, or finer and slender, with a dense ko-itame with plenty of ji-nie and a temper of suguha with chōji or of chōji-midare.

His “Akashi Kuniyuki”, in the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo, was designated in 1937 under the old law and has been a National Treasure since 1953. For Markus Sesko, his signed work is abundant for a master of his time: more than two dozen pieces designated by the State, more than 80 NBTHK Jūyō and 17 Tokubetsu Jūyō.

Sections

  1. Kyoto, mid-Kamakura Life and times The name of the school, his probable dates and his lineage.
  2. Robust tachi and slender tachi Work and style Jihada, hamon, bōshi, sugata, nakago and mei: the keys to recognising him.
  3. The “Akashi Kuniyuki” and his cultural properties Famous works His National Treasure, his Important Cultural Properties and his works in museums and shrines.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.