Chōunsai Tsunatoshi

Chōunsai Tsunatoshi and the Bizen Revival in the Shinshintō Era

Chōunsai Tsunatoshi (1798–1863) was one of the leading masters of the Shinshintō period, based in Edo during the late Edo period, and in his own time was praised as the foremost smith of the Bizen tradition. The Shinshintō era was defined by a conscious "return to the old" — after the Shintō period had developed its own distinctive styles, smiths in the early nineteenth century turned their attention to the masterpieces of the Kamakura, Nanbokuchō, and Muromachi periods as ideals to emulate.

Tsunatoshi trained in the lineage of Suishinshi Masahide, the central advocate of the "kotō revival" philosophy, and became one of the disciples most dedicated to practically realizing that philosophy. Among Masahide's senior students, Tsunatoshi distinguished himself by tackling head-on the most technically demanding challenge: the restoration of Bizen-den chōji-midare.

Technical Restoration of Chōji-Midare

Bizen-den chōji-midare, perfected by Nagamitsu, Kagemitsu, and Kanemitsu of the Osafune school, requires mastery of iron sand selection, precise temperature control, and intricate quenching technique. By the Edo period the original methods had been lost and no Shintō smith had managed a complete restoration. In the Shinshintō era, Tsunatoshi joined Suishinshi Masahide and Taikei Naotane in confronting this challenge.

Tsunatoshi's typical work shows a nioi-deki gunome-chōji-midare with ashi; there are also tall, large-headed gunome-chōji, and occasionally tōran-midare or suguha. While his chōji-midare is not identical to the old originals, it captures the vitality — the sense of living movement — of the chōji hamon within a Shinshintō context, standing out clearly among his contemporaries. His jigane is a tightly forged ko-itame, so fine that it can appear almost muji.

The Gō "Chōunsai"

"Chōunsai" was Tsunatoshi's art name. From around 1823 he lived and worked at the Uesugi family's middle residence in Azabu, Edo, and in 1856 he passed the name Chōunsai to his son Koretoshi (the second-generation Tsunatoshi), thereafter calling himself Chōjusai.

Students and Influence

Tsunatoshi trained many disciples, and his techniques and philosophy influenced swordmaking broadly from the late Edo period through the Bakumatsu. His pupils included Koyama Munetsugu, Takahashi Naganobu and Seiryūken Moritoshi, and his nephew Ishidō Korekazu also became a noted smith; Tsunatoshi built a major school in Bakumatsu Edo. The revival of Bizen-den through chōji-midare remained a central theme of Japanese sword aesthetics from the Bakumatsu through the Meiji period, and Tsunatoshi is remembered as one of its leading figures.

Tsunatoshi and TOUKENZA

TOUKENZA presents Chōunsai Tsunatoshi to convey the intellectual enterprise of the Shinshintō smith — studying, analyzing, and creatively applying the lessons of the great old blades. Tsunatoshi's chōji-midare is not mere imitation but a new creation born from the dialogue between research and practice, a product of the conversation between classical tradition and the living present.