Sukezane
助真 (Sukezane)
A smith of the Fukuoka Ichimonji school in Bizen of the mid-Kamakura period; tradition says he moved to Kamakura, hence the name Kamakura Ichimonji.
Profile
Sukezane, called Tōgenji, was one of the great Fukuoka Ichimonji smiths at its height, with Yoshifusa and Norifusa; the dictionaries disagree on his father’s name: Sukeshige (助成) according to one and Sukefusa (助房) according to another. Around 1266 he is said to have moved to Kamakura at the call of the shogunate (another source places it earlier, under the regent Hōjō Tokiyori), which is why he is called Kamakura Ichimonji; old texts include him in the genealogy of the Sagami smiths. His work is the most robust and vigorous of the school, with showy chōji and more nie than usual in Bizen. Two of his tachi are national treasures.
Monograph
Sukezane (助真)
A Bizen swordsmith of whom his blades are on record and little else, told with the level of evidence of each fact.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Nikkō Sukezane: tachi of Tokugawa Ieyasu, national treasure, Nikkō Tōshōgū shrine.
- Signed tachi from the Kishū Tokugawa house: national treasure, Tokyo National Museum.