Awataguchi Hisakuni

Awataguchi Hisakuni, One of the Awataguchi Six Brothers

Awataguchi Hisakuni was a swordsmith of the Awataguchi school who was active in Awataguchi, Yamashiro Province, during the early Kamakura period. He is traditionally counted as one of the Awataguchi Six Brothers (Kunitomo, Hisakuni, Kuniyasu, Kunikiyo, Arikuni, and Kunitsuna) and as the younger brother of Kunitomo. The Awataguchi school was a prestigious lineage of the Yamashiro tradition, based in Awataguchi in Higashiyama, Kyoto, from the late Heian period through the Kamakura period. Its refined style was highly regarded by the imperial family, the court nobility, and the warrior class alike.

Hisakuni is known in particular for fine tachi among the six brothers, with a style that combines dignity and strength. His jigane consists of fine ko-itame close to the nashiji characteristic of the Awataguchi school, and his hamon takes a dignified form of calm suguha mixed with ko-midare. The nie is uniform and fine, and a consistently high level of skill is felt from the blade edge down to the tang.

Technical Characteristics of the Awataguchi School

A technical characteristic shared across the Awataguchi school as a whole is the fineness of the jigane and the high quality of the nie. This characteristic is fully evident in Hisakuni's works as well, and it demonstrates that by the early Kamakura period, a highly refined sword-making technique already existed at Awataguchi. As for activity within the blade, fine features such as kinsuji and sunagashi are seen. Both the jigane and the hamon are enveloped in high-quality nie, giving off a solemn beauty.

Role as One of the Six Brothers

Hisakuni is said to have been summoned to serve as a goban-kaji for Retired Emperor Go-Toba, and to have served in particular as a shitoku-kaji, a master-rank position among them. He is also regarded as the first smith to have received an honorary provincial title (Ōsumi no Gon-no-Kami). The Awataguchi school traces its founding to Hisakuni's father, Kuniie, and produced Yoshimitsu, who was later counted among the Tenka Sansaku (Three Great Smiths). Several works designated as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties survive, and he holds an unshakable place in the history of Japanese swordmaking as a smith representative of the early Kamakura Yamashiro tradition.

TOUKENZA and Awataguchi Hisakuni

TOUKENZA introduces Hisakuni as a forerunner in the great Awataguchi lineage that leads to Yoshimitsu, and as a smith who embodies the origin of the beauty of the Yamashiro tradition.