* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Ōan Era Swords (1368–1375)
応安期の刀剣
The Northern Court era name Ōan (1368–1375), during which the child shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu took office under the regency of kanrei Hosokawa Yoriyuki, whose Ōan Hanzei Order expanded shugo daimyō authority over estate lands. A transitional period in which the bold ōdachi style established during Enbun–Jōji persisted.
- Period
- Ōan era (1368–1375)
- Sword Classification
- Nanbokuchō Period (Northern Court Era Name — Continuation of the Great-Sword Style)
Description
Historical Background of the Ōan Era
Ōan was an era name used by the Northern Court, spanning Ōan 1 (1368) to Ōan 8 (1375). The previous year, the second Muromachi bakufu shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiakira, died, and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, aged 10 by traditional reckoning, succeeded to the headship of the shogunal house. As his guardian, the deputy shogun (kanrei) Hosokawa Yoriyuki led the administration of the bakufu. Immediately after taking office, in the 6th month of Ōan 1 (July 1368), the "Ōan Hanzei Order" (Jisha Honjoryō no Koto) was issued. It stipulated that shugo could acquire not only half of the annual tax yield of estates but also half of the land itself, institutionally expanding the local control of the shugo daimyō. On the Southern Court side, it was the reign of Emperor Chōkei, and the civil war still continued.
Characteristics of Sword Styles
The style of bold great tachi and nodachi, broad in body width and also broad near the tip, established in the Enbun–Jōji period (1356–1368), was carried over into the Ōan period. The background to this was that, owing to the demand for both mounted and foot combat arising from the Nanbokuchō conflict, long blades continued to be sought. These Nanbokuchō-period great tachi were later, particularly from the Muromachi period onward, subjected to suriage (reshaping the tang to a shorter form), altered to more manageable dimensions, and surviving examples of this are known.
Representative Smiths
For Kanemitsu of the Bizen Osafune school, dated works are confirmed from Genkō (1321–1324) through the Ōan period, and he is known as a smith who continued forging blades over a long period throughout the Nanbokuchō period. The son of Kagemitsu, he left behind many bold great tachi and extended tantō.
Social Context
The strengthening of the shugo's economic base through the Ōan Hanzei Order is thought to have been one factor that underpinned demand from the warrior bands and swordsmiths maintained by the shugo daimyō across the provinces. While the Nanbokuchō civil war was still ongoing, the Ōan period was a transitional age in which the reorganization of bakufu authority and the expansion of shugo rule advanced simultaneously.
Characteristics of This Era
- Ōan Hanzei Order (1368) — permitted shugo to claim half of estate land itself, not just tax yield, institutionally expanding shugo daimyō authority
- Continuation of the Enbun–Jōji style — the bold, wide ōdachi and nodachi style persisted through Ōan
- Ongoing Nanbokuchō civil war — the Northern Court (Go-Kōgon/Go-En'yū) and Southern Court (Chōkei) continued in parallel
- Later suriage shortening — many Ōan-era ōdachi were later shortened by suriage from the Muromachi period onward