* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Inaba Shizu
稲葉志津
Also known as: Inaba Shizu; Tantō by Shizu Saburō Kaneuji
Description
Masamune Jittetsu and Shizu Kaneuji
Inaba Shizu is an untitled tanto said to be the work of the Nanboku-chō period smith Shizu Saburō Kaneuji. Kaneuji originally came from the Tegai school of Yamato Province and studied under Masamune of Sōshū. He later moved to Shizu in Mino Province (near present-day Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture), which is why he came to be called by the name Shizu. He is counted among the Masamune Jittetsu, the Ten Disciples of Masamune. He is known for a style that fuses the Yamato and Sōshū traditions. His work features a hamon of nie-based notare mixed with gunome on itame-hada jigane, with kinsuji and sunagashi activity appearing throughout.
Hon'ami Kōtoku's Attestation and Red Signature
Although this work is untitled, it was authenticated as a work of Kaneuji by Hon'ami Kōtoku, the foremost connoisseur of his era, and a shumei (red signature) was added. The blade length is approximately 25 cm, and it retains a form appropriate to a Nanboku-chō period tanto. Because of the quality of its jigane and hamon, it has long been valued as one of Shizu's representative works.
From the Inaba Family to the Tokugawa, Asano, and Kuroda Families
This work is called Inaba Shizu because it was transmitted to Inaba Michitō, who descended from a Mino warrior family. It later passed to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Ieyasu bestowed it upon Asano Yoshinaga. Later it was presented again to the Tokugawa family from the Asano family. In Keichō 5 (1600), when Ieyasu's adopted daughter Eihime became engaged to Kuroda Nagamasa, it is said to have been given to Nagamasa as a bridal gift (mukohikidemono) and to have been transmitted within the Kuroda family, lords of Fukuoka Domain in Chikuzen, throughout the Edo period.
Designation and Current Status
After the war it was designated an Important Cultural Property, and it is now owned by a private individual in Aichi Prefecture. It has a provenance passing through the powerful daimyo houses of Inaba, Tokugawa, Asano, and Kuroda, spanning the late Sengoku to the early Edo period. It is evaluated as a blade that carries down to the present the skill of Shizu Kaneuji, one of the Masamune Jittetsu.
Shizu as the Source of the Mino Tradition
Kaneuji's fusion of the Yamato and Sōshū styles in his own work is regarded as having laid the groundwork for the origins of the Mino den, which later became a major force in Mino Province. It is also regarded as laying the groundwork for the Seki smiths, who produced Magoroku Kanemoto, Izumi-no-kami Kanesada, and others. Kanetsugu and Kanetomo, said to be either sons or disciples of Shizu, settled in Mino and developed its range of work. As a result, the Mino den grew into a distinctive tradition combining the nie-based workmanship of the Sōshū den with the sturdy ground steel of the Yamato den. Inaba Shizu is also important as a rare extant work that directly conveys the skill of Kaneuji himself, who stands at the source of this tradition.
Legends & Stories
Though unsigned, Inaba Shizu was judged to be the work of Shizu Kaneuji by Honami Kōtoku, the foremost appraiser of his age, who marked it with a red-lacquer attribution. It is known for a provenance that passed from Inaba Michitō to Tokugawa Ieyasu, to Asano Yoshinaga, and finally to the Kuroda family, tracing a path through the leading warrior houses of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods.