Kantei
The same short blade seen from the other side, with the tang on the right, on a black background.

Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase · ColBase terms of use

Nie suguha · chikei · kinsuji

Work and style

A style halfway between his master’s suguha and Masamune’s midare, with a jiba full of nie.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. His style
  3. The blades attributed to him
  4. The measurements of the Maeda tantō
  5. Gallery

Kantei keys

Sugata
The Maeda tantō: hira-zukuri, mitsu-mune and uchi-zori, the common shape of Kamakura tantō. HD
Jihada
Tightly packed itame, with thick ji-nie and chikei. HD
Hamon
Hiro-suguha with ko-ashi and yō, kinsuji here and there, a deep nioi and plenty of ko-nie. HD
Bōshi
Straight, with komaru, hakikake and kinsuji, and a somewhat long turn-back. HD
Nakago and mei
Never shortened, kurijiri, katte-sagari yasurime, one hole, and the signature 行光 (Yukimitsu) in two characters cut with a fine chisel, below the hole and in the centre. HD

His style

  • The Tokyo National Museum sees his style as halfway between his master’s suguha and Masamune’s curving midare, and gives the Maeda tantō as a typical example.
  • The official record of the tantō calls it a masterpiece of Sōshū Yukimitsu: its style resembles Kunimitsu’s, with plenty of chikei in the steel and a suguha rich in nie with kinsuji.
  • For the NBTHK his jiba is full of nie, with chikei, kinsuji and yubashiri, “charming in appearance”, among the best of the Sōshū-den. It resembles Yukihira and the Taima school of Yamato, but the proportions of the shinogi-ji and the bōshi are not those of Yamato.

The blades attributed to him

  • The NBTHK says that the unsigned blades attributed to him show many styles: some recall Masamune, Norishige or Rai Kunitsugu, with notare, midare-ba and hitatsura. From the Muromachi on, the treatises already said that he worked in many styles.
  • An NBTHK kantei gives him as the option that remains when a blade is not by Masamune, Sadamune, Norishige or another of Masamune’s ten pupils.
  • The NBTHK speaks of a nakago “in the style of Sōshū Yukimitsu”: with a tip that narrows sharply towards the mune, shaped like a boat, which also appears on blades of the Rai school influenced by Sōshū.

The measurements of the Maeda tantō

The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives a blade of 26.4 cm, a motohaba of 2.3 cm and a nakago of 10.7 cm; the Tokyo National Museum, a blade of 26.2 cm.