Yasutsuna
安綱 (Yasutsuna)
A Hōki smith of the Heian period, founder of Ko-Hōki; maker of the Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, one of the tenka goken.
Profile
Yasutsuna is held to be the founder of the Hōki smiths and is one of the first with surviving signed work. Old texts place him at the start of the 9th century, when straight blades were still made, and today he is placed in the second half of the Heian period. His son by tradition is Ōhara Sanemori. What survives are tachi signed «Yasutsuna» with two characters, nearly always with the original tang, which shows they were kept as treasures. His tachi have a ko-kissaki, funbari and koshizori; the large itame, of dark jigane, has chikei and nie, and the ko-midare has ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi.
Monograph
Yasutsuna (安綱)
His quick profile, what is documented as against tradition, and the essentials.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Dōjigiri Yasutsuna: tachi, one of the tenka goken, national treasure, Tokyo National Museum; legend says Minamoto no Yorimitsu killed the demon Shuten-dōji with it.
Famous swords
- Dōjigiri Yasutsuna 童子切安綱