Yasuyoshi
安吉 (Yasuyoshi)
A smith of the Samonji school of Chikuzen in the Nanbokuchō period, son or student of Samonji according to the sources, who by 1362 was signing in Nagato; two of his tantō are meibutsu.
Profile
Yasuyoshi, who signed Sa Yasuyoshi, was a son or student of Samonji, the Chikuzen master who signed with the character Sa. Two of his blades are dated, 1357 and 1362, and the second bears the signature «Chōshū-jū Yasuyoshi», resident of Nagato, where he moved. He forged above all large tantō, wide and thin, with an itame and nagare jihada and a ko-notare temper with gunome and togariba; his bōshi drops towards the edge. The sources disagree on whether his temper is of nioi or of nie. Two of his tantō, the Hitotsuyanagi Yasuyoshi and the Heki Yasuyoshi, are meibutsu. According to one version of a hunting anecdote, a wakizashi of his that cut a goose, the Gankiri, passed to the Sakakibara family.
Monograph
Yasuyoshi (安吉)
A swordsmith of large tantō, with two dated blades and two meibutsu, told with the level of evidence of each fact.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Hitotsuyanagi Yasuyoshi: meibutsu tantō, important cultural property, at the Tokyo National Museum.
- Tantō dated 1357: important cultural property, at Inuyama Castle.