Chōroku Era

Chōroku (1457-1460) was a mid-Muromachi era name, proclaimed on the 28th day of the 9th month of Kōshō 3 (October 16, 1457) and used until it was replaced by Kanshō on the 21st day of the 12th month of Chōroku 4 (February 1, 1461). The reigning emperor was Go-Hanazono and the shogun was Ashikaga Yoshimasa; the era name derives from a passage in the Han Feizi. On the 2nd day of the 12th month of Chōroku 1 (December 18, 1457), surviving retainers of the fallen Akamatsu clan recovered the sacred jewel - part of the Three Sacred Treasures seized by the Southern Court during the Kinketsu Incident - in what became known as the Chōroku Incident. From Chōroku 3 (1459), a severe nationwide crop failure triggered the Chōroku-Kanshō famine, which caused widespread starvation continuing into the Kanshō era. In sword history, this era is best represented by the Bizen Osafune smith Norimitsu (the second-generation bearer of the name, posthumously nicknamed "Kanshō Norimitsu" for his later Kanshō-dated works). His signed katana - inscribed "Bizen Province Osafune resident Saemon-no-jō Fujiwara Ason Norimitsu / made at Kurosaka, Takatori estate, Mimasaka province / forged for Takatori Kageyu-zaemon Fujiwara Ason Yasusuke / Chōroku 3, kinoto-u, 12th month, 13th day" (1459) - has a blade length of 68.2cm and a curvature of 2.0cm. First recognized as a Jūyō Bijutsuhin (Important Art Object) in 1938, it was elevated to Jūyō Bunkazai (Important Cultural Property) status on February 8, 1958, and is now held by a private owner in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Osafune Norimitsu traces back through successive generations to a founding smith trained under the master Nagamitsu, and this blade is considered representative of the line's work. That a piece from this troubled era of factional strife and famine survives as a nationally designated Important Cultural Property attests to the continued high level of quality and volume in Bizen sword production.