Shuri no Suke Morimitsu

Profile

Morimitsu worked at Osafune in Bizen province during the Ōei era (1394-1428) and is one of the central figures of the group known as Ōei Bizen. Together with Yasumitsu and Moromitsu he makes up the trio called 応永の三光 (Ōei no Sanmitsu). Genealogies count him as the second of the name; of a first Morimitsu, traced back to the Kanemitsu line, hardly any secure works are known. He signed 備州長船盛光 (Bishū Osafune Morimitsu), often with a date, and also used the title 修理亮 (Shuri no Suke). His tachi are slender, reflecting his generation's return to Kamakura-period proportions; the jigane is a tight itame with some masame and a pronounced bō-utsuri. The hamon is a nioi-based midare of gunome and chōji, with detached yō inside the ha, and his gunome tend to have rounded heads. Horimono of a ken with sanko and of bonji are common. A tachi of his dated Ōei 23 (1416) is designated an Important Cultural Property.