Kantei
Whole katana blade, vertical and curved, with the signed tang at the bottom, on a black background.

Lineage of the Mishina school · Kyoto and Osaka · Edo period

Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi (丹波守吉道)

A lineage of swordsmiths of the Mishina school, in Kyoto and in Osaka, tied to a temper shaped like a bamboo blind: the sudare-ba

Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi is not one swordsmith but a name borne by several generations of the Mishina school (三品派, Mishina-ha), in the Nishinotōin quarter of Kyoto and in a branch in Osaka, from the end of the 16th century. The NBTHK thinks that the first was one of the four sons of Kanemichi of Mino who settled in Kyoto. Tied to this name is the sudare-ba (簾刃), a temper that draws a bamboo blind on the blade.

Kyoto National Museum, via ColBase

Eleven, 1634 to 1853
Generations
Kyoto and Osaka
Branches
yoki-wazamono
Cutting rank
A katana by the first
Tokubetsu Jūyō
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi; English sources also write “Tamba no Kami” AT
Kanji and reading
丹波守吉道 (Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi) HD
Period
Shintō: from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 19th AT
Province
Yamashiro (山城), in Nishinotōin (西洞院), Kyoto; a branch in Osaka, in Settsu (摂津) AT
School
Mishina (三品派, Mishina-ha), which came from Mino HD
Master
Who taught him is not recorded; the NBTHK thinks that the first was a son of Kanemichi (兼道), a swordsmith of Mino AT
Title
Tanba no Kami (丹波守); in 1595 (Bunroku 4), according to Haga Yaichi’s dictionary AT
Generations
Eleven between 1634 and 1853 according to Hawley, in two branches, Kyoto and Osaka; no reliable family tree published AT
Cutting rank
yoki-wazamono (良業物) for the first two generations of Kyoto and the two of Osaka, in the Yamada cutting list AT
What is documented
A katana that is an Important Art Object in the Kyoto National Museum; a katana by the first, NBTHK Tokubetsu Jūyō HD
The tradition
That the first Yoshimichi created the sudare-ba AT
What is not on record
The order of the generations and who founded the Osaka branch PC

In short

With his brothers Iga no Kami Kinmichi, Rai Kinmichi and Etchū no Kami Masatoshi, and with Ōmi no Kami Hisamichi, the first Yoshimichi makes up the five swordsmiths of Kyoto (京五鍛冶, Kyō go-kaji), who prospered throughout the Edo period alongside the Umetada and Horikawa schools. According to the tradition recorded by the NBTHK, Yoshimichi created the sudare-ba. The NBTHK already sees in a katana by the first signs of the sudare-ba that would become the style of the next generation. They should not be confused with Yamato no Kami Yoshimichi (大和守吉道), of Osaka, who is another swordsmith and is in another grade of the cutting list.

Sections

  1. The generations Life and times From Mino to Kyoto, the five swordsmiths of Kyoto, the Osaka branch and what is known of each generation.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style Sugata, jihada, sudare-ba, bōshi, the signature and how to tell Kyoto from Osaka.
  3. In museums and lists Famous works An Important Art Object, a Tokubetsu Jūyō, their blades in museums and their place in the lists.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.