* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Horikawa School
堀川一門
The Horikawa school, founded around Keichō 4 (1599) when Kunihiro settled in Ichijō-Horikawa, Kyoto, is recognized in sword history as the first innovative sword school of the Shintō period. Kunihiro and his many disciples, together with the Mishina school, built the technical foundation of the Shintō period, and smiths from various provinces who entered as apprentices carried their acquired skills throughout the country. The legacy of the Horikawa school, which fused superb skill in kotō utsushi with the innovative aesthetic sense of the Shintō period, determined the direction of early modern Japanese swords.
Description
Kunihiro and the Establishment of Horikawa
Horikawa Kunihiro was born in Aya, Hyūga Province (present-day Miyazaki Prefecture), in Kyōroku 4 (1531). He first served the Sengoku daimyō, the Itō clan. From the late Tenshō era to the early Keichō era (1590s), he went up to Kyoto (jōraku), and around Keichō 4 (1599) he settled in Ichijō-Horikawa.
The Nationwide Spread of Disciples
Horikawa Kunihiro's greatest historical contribution lies in training many outstanding disciples and sending them out across the country. Disciples who inherited the character "Kuni" include the master smiths of the Horikawa school: Kunisada, Kunisuke, Kuniyasu, Kunikiyo, Kunimichi, and Kunitomo. Of these, Izumi no Kami Kunisada and Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke later moved to Osaka and became smiths who represented the dawn of Osaka Shintō. Together with the Mishina school, the Horikawa school laid the technical foundations of the Shintō period.
Kunihiro's Technical Innovations
Kunihiro was also an important innovator in swordsmithing. His greatest distinguishing feature is his high skill in "copying old swords" (kotō no utsushi), that is, precisely imitating the masterworks of the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods as models. He studied in detail the overall form (taihai) and hamon of famous swords such as Sōshū Masamune of the Sōshū (Sagami) tradition, the Shizu of the Mino tradition, and Osafune Chōgi, and he excelled at reproducing their characteristics as Shintō. Keichō-period tachi followed the overall form of the kotō period (long nakago, relatively long blade length, and deep sori), while fusing the refined jigane of Shintō with bright, crisp hamon. In this way they produced ideal works that combined "the vigor of kotō and the quality of Shintō." Kunihiro was also skilled in horimono, and many of his works bear decorative carvings on the blade, such as bonji, ken, gomahashi (paired ritual chopsticks), and Fudō Myōō. These works reflect the rich decorative quality of the Keichō–Momoyama culture in his swords.
Jigane and Hamon of the Horikawa School
The jigane of the Horikawa school is based mainly on ko-itame hada, with variations among masters and disciples, such as masame and mokume mixed in. It is characterized by a bright appearance with fine ji-nie. Its hamon range widely from suguha through gunome to midare. Kunihiro's representative hamon are known as broad-width, strongly nie-laden ō-gunome and midare hamon conscious of the Sōshū (Sagami) tradition. Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke produced many works with ko-mokume jigane and striking nie-deki hamon, playing a part in the diverse hamon expression within the Horikawa school.
Foundations of the Shintō Period
After the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and the Osaka campaigns (1614–1615), the Tokugawa shogunate established a realm of tenka taihei (peace under heaven). Swords then changed in meaning from practical weapons to spiritual symbols of the samurai. The role the Horikawa school played in this age of change was that of a "technical bridge," carrying the technical legacy of kotō into the new era. The techniques that its disciples spread across the country became the foundation of each region's Shintō culture and made possible the diverse development of sword culture in the Edo period. Works by Horikawa Kunihiro now include numerous designated pieces, from Important Cultural Properties to Jūyō Tōken, and the market rates them as the highest peak of Shintō.
Characteristics of This Era
- Positioned as a source of the Shintō period alongside the Mishina school. Smiths from various provinces entered as apprentices and carried the skills they acquired throughout the country.
- High skill in kotō utsushi. Kunihiro's technique, which closely studied famous blades of the Kamakura and Nanboku-chō periods and reproduced their taihai and hamon as Shintō blades, was a forerunner of the later fukkō undō. It was an ideal achievement that fused the legacy of kotō with the quality of Shintō.
- A rich horimono tradition. Decorative carvings such as bonji, ken, Fudō Myōō, and gomahashi reflected the decorative character of Momoyama bunka in swords. The school pursued a unified beauty of horimono and blade.
- Bright jigane of ko-itame hada with ji-nie, and strong-nie ō-gunome and midare hamon. Bold hamon expression influenced by the Sōshū tradition, with individual character added by each master–disciple line, produced a diverse range of styles.
- A clear master–disciple lineage of many students who inherited the kuni character. Smith names bearing the kuni character are distributed throughout Japan, testifying to the nationwide influence of the Horikawa school.