Kantei

Large tantō · itame and nagare · ko-notare

Work and style

Large tantō, with a wide, thin blade, a jihada that mixes itame and nagare and a temper softer than his father’s.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. Compared with Samonji
  3. Nioi or nie?
  4. The engravings

Kantei keys

Sugata
Hira-zukuri tantō with iori-mune, large (many of about 1 shaku, some 30 cm) and few small tantō: wide, long and with a thin kasane, with a very slight sori. AT
Jihada
Itame mixed with nagare, dense ji-nie and chikei; a whitish utsuri, as bō-utsuri, alongside the hamon. AT
Hamon
Ko-notare with togariba and gunome, with ashi and ko-nie; the Tokyo National Museum highlights his ko-gunome with ko-nie. AT
Bōshi
Midare-komi with a sharp point, dropping towards the edge; the kaeri, shorter than Samonji’s. AT
Nakago and mei
Signatures 左安吉 (Sa Yasuyoshi), 安吉 (Yasuyoshi), 左安吉作 (Sa Yasuyoshi saku) and 長州住安吉 (Chōshū-jū Yasuyoshi), according to the NBTHK’s 2019 catalogue. HD

Compared with Samonji

  • For the Tokyo National Museum, compared with his father’s strong nie, what distinguishes Yasuyoshi is a 小互の目 (ko-gunome) with ko-nie.
  • The Agency for Cultural Affairs record of his tantō in the Kyūshū National Museum sums it up thus: wider and larger than Samonji’s, with a gentle sori and a thin kasane, a nioi temper and a bōshi that rises and turns back deeply, “the typical style of this swordsmith”.
  • The NBTHK quotes the 解紛記 (Kaifunki): “Yasuyoshi’s works all have nioiguchi and are somewhat softer than his father’s”. In his itame and nagare jihada, with bō-utsuri towards the hamon, it sees a blend with Bizen features, and in that his characteristic style.

Nioi or nie?

The two NBTHK descriptions do not agree. The one in its journal no. 711 (2016) speaks of a nioiguchi temper, more marked in the upper half. The one in no. 805 (2024) describes it as nie, with little ko-nie, mainly gunome with ko-notare. The Tokyo National Museum record of the Hitotsuyanagi Yasuyoshi also speaks of a notare with nie.

The engravings

  • His blades usually bear bōhi or goma-bashi.
  • Only two bear a figurative engraving: the Inuyama tantō, with a 三鈷剣 (sankoken), the three-pronged Buddhist sword, inside the hi, and the one in the Kyūshū National Museum. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says that this kind of Buddhist engraving is extremely rare in the whole Samonji school.