Kantei

Edo, Musashi · first half of the Edo period

Yamato no Kami Yasusada (大和守安定)

An Edo swordsmith of the Kanbun era, a good cutter, with his tangs full of test inscriptions

Yamato no Kami Yasusada (大和守安定) was a swordsmith of Edo, in the province of Musashi, said to have arrived in the city around 1648; his last dated work is from 1673. His blades have a reputation for cutting well and many bear cutting-test inscriptions on the tang. The wazamono list gives him the third of its four grades.

Around 1648
To Edo
1673
Last dated work
3rd of 4
Grade in the wazamono list
One, and his son
Generations
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Yamato no Kami Yasusada AT
Kanji and reading
大和守安定 (Yamato no Kami Yasusada); he also signs 武蔵國住大和守安定 (Musashi no Kuni jū Yamato no Kami Yasusada), 富田大和守安定 (Tomita Yamato no Kami Yasusada) and 大和守源安定 (Yamato no Kami Minamoto no Yasusada) AT
Period
Shintō, first half of the Edo period: in Edo around 1648 (Keian 1); his last dated work, from 1673 (Kanbun 13) AT
Province
Musashi (武蔵, Musashi): he worked in Edo and lived in Kanda Shirogane-chō AT
School
According to the most widespread opinion, the Ishidō (石堂, Ishidō) school of Kii; an old treatise made him one of the Shimosaka (下坂, Shimosaka) of Echizen AT
Master
Disputed: the second Yasutsugu, according to the Japanese Wikipedia; Izumi no Kami Kaneshige (和泉守兼重), according to the Tokyo National Museum; Yasuhiro is also proposed AT
Title
First 大和大掾 (Yamato Daijō) and then 大和守 (Yamato no Kami), in no known year AT
Cutting rank
良業物 (yoki-wazamono), the third of the four grades of the 懐宝剣尺 (Kaihō Kenjaku), of 1797, and at the end of that grade AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: a wakizashi signed 大和守安定 (Yamato no Kami Yasusada), of 40 cm, in the Tokyo National Museum. From tradition: that his swords were carried by Okita Sōji and other swordsmen at the end of the shogunate: so it is said, but none of those blades is known. HD

In short

Yasusada is one of the Edo swordsmiths of the Kanbun era (1661-1673), with blades of little curvature and a short point. His manner recalls that of Kotetsu, and his fame comes from cutting: many of his blades bear cutting-test inscriptions on the tang, and of one it is said that the shogunate’s tester Yamano Kaemon Nagahisa (山野加右衛門永久) cut five bodies at once with it, the first time since the founding of the shogunate. That fame made him fashionable at the end of the shogunate, when he was linked with Okita Sōji, of the Shinsengumi.

Sections

  1. From Kii to Edo Life and times The disputed origin, the masters proposed for him, the titles and the fame of the Bakumatsu.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style The Kanbun-era shape, the resemblance to Kotetsu and the cutting inscriptions.
  3. A museum, a list and a legend Famous works The wakizashi of the Tokyo National Museum, his grade in the wazamono list and Okita Sōji’s sword.
  4. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted.