Awataguchi Norikuni

A Master of the Awataguchi School — Awataguchi Norikuni

Awataguchi Norikuni was a swordsmith of the Awataguchi school, active in Awataguchi, Yamashiro Province, in the early Kamakura period. He was the son of Kunitomo, the eldest of the six Awataguchi brothers, and the father of Kuniyoshi. Among the Awataguchi school, Norikuni is especially known as a master craftsman of outstanding skill, and he left behind tachi of a high degree of finish. As a master who embodied the school's aesthetic ideals at a high level, with a fine small itame jigane close to nashiji and a uniform suguha or small midare hamon with deep nie, he occupies the summit of the early Kamakura Yamashiro-den.

A distinctive feature of Norikuni's work is the especially fine finish of the jigane. The finely forged small itame hada has high luster, with fine chikei within the ground, and as a whole displays a deep and beautiful kitae. The hamon is mainly a gentle suguha, yet the expression of the hamon shows movement that changes from bottom to top, giving it a dignified composition that avoids monotony.

Norikuni's Position within the Awataguchi School

Norikuni's works are said to represent the archetype of the Awataguchi school, but very few signed works are certain. In the lineage, he stands midway in the flow of the Awataguchi school, which passes through his son Kuniyoshi to Yoshimitsu.

TOUKENZA and Norikuni

TOUKENZA presents Norikuni, together with Yoshimitsu, as a treasure of the Awataguchi school and as a pure embodiment of the beauty of the Yamashiro-den. A tachi in the collection of the Kyoto National Museum (signed Norikuni) is designated a National Treasure and conveys to the present day the high technical level of the Awataguchi school.