Kantei
A long, deeply curved blade without mounts, with a gilt habaki, on a stand covered with white cloth against a black background.

Swordsmith of Hōki · Ko-Hōki · Heian period

Yasutsuna (安綱)

The Hōki swordsmith of the Heian period, held to be the founder of Ko-Hōki, and his Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, one of the five swords under heaven

Yasutsuna (安綱) was a swordsmith of Hōki province, the west of present-day Tottori, in the Heian period. He is held to be the founder of the Ko-Hōki swordsmiths and is one of the first whose signed work survives: only tachi. His Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, in the Tokyo National Museum, is a National Treasure and one of the five swords under heaven (天下五剣, tenka goken).

Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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National Treasure
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Important Cultural Properties
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Important Art Objects
80.0 cm
Length of the Dōjigiri
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Yasutsuna; also Hōki Yasutsuna or Ōhara Yasutsuna; he signed 安綱 (Yasutsuna) AT
Kanji and reading
安綱 (Yasutsuna); 伯耆安綱 (Hōki Yasutsuna); 大原安綱 (Ōhara Yasutsuna) AT
Period
Heian period: the 10th to 12th centuries, according to the Tokyo National Museum; the old treatises placed him at the beginning of the 9th century AT
Province
Hōki (伯耆, Hōki), the west of present-day Tottori; he is assumed to have worked in Ōhara, though this is not certain AT
School
Ko-Hōki (古伯耆, Ko-Hōki), of which he is held to be the founder AT
Lineage
Father of 大原真守 (Ōhara Sanemori), according to tradition; 安家 (Yasuie), his son or pupil AT
What is documented
Tachi signed 安綱 (Yasutsuna), almost always unshortened; the Dōjigiri is a National Treasure HD
The tradition
The dates of the old treatises (749–811), the legend of Shuten-dōji and that of the white ox laden with iron AT

In short

Yasutsuna is one of the first swordsmiths of the Japanese sword and the representative of the Heian period, according to the Japanese Wikipedia. He is held to be the founder of the Ko-Hōki swordsmiths, and most of his signatures are on unshortened tangs, because his blades were kept as treasures from early on.

The old treatises had him living at the beginning of the 9th century, when straight blades were still being made; today those dates are considered an invention. The Tokyo National Museum dates his Dōjigiri to the Heian period, between the 10th and 12th centuries.

His tachi are slender, with a high koshizori, a large itame of dark steel and a ko-midare of nie with kinsuji and sunagashi: a “rustic” beauty, says the NBTHK.

Sections

  1. Hōki, Heian period Life and times The dates of the old treatises as against today’s, Ko-Hōki and the legends.
  2. Tachi · large itame · ko-midare of nie Work and style Sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi, nakago and mei: the keys to recognising him.
  3. The Dōjigiri and his designated tachi Famous works The Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, his Important Cultural Properties and his place in the old lists.
  4. The Dōjigiri at the Tokyo National Museum Videos Four videos of the Dōjigiri and of an exhibition on Ko-Hōki.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.