Gassan Sadakazu I

Gassan Sadakazu was born in Tenpō 7 (1836) in Inukami District, Ōmi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture). He was a swordsmith active from the late Edo period through the Taishō period. His original surname was Tsukamoto, his given name was Yagorō, and he went by the art name Unryūshi. The Gassan school was an old line of swordsmiths based at Mount Gassan in Dewa Province. Since the Kamakura period, it had been a prestigious family known throughout the country for its distinctive forging textures and practical utility. Gassan Sadayoshi, a swordsmith of that lineage, moved to Ōsaka in the late Edo period. Sadakazu became his adopted son at the age of seven and entered the path of sword forging. Even in his teens he showed outstanding skill. After his adoptive father's death, he settled in Ōsaka, led the school, and as the first Gassan Sadakazu, revived the Gassan school.

Amid the Haitōrei (Sword Abolishment Edict) of Meiji 9 (1876), which forced many swordsmiths to change their trade, Sadakazu also suffered hardship. At one point he even gave up sword making. Later, however, he resumed making swords and preserved and passed on the techniques of Japanese sword forging, which were at risk of decline. His achievements were highly regarded. In Meiji 39 (1906), he was appointed an Imperial Household Artist (Teishitsu Gigeiin), the highest honor for swordsmiths of the time, and became an official swordsmith to the Imperial Household Ministry. From then on, he produced many swords for members of the imperial family and prominent figures, beginning with military swords for Emperor Meiji, who was known as a connoisseur of swords. In Taishō 1 (1912), he made a tachi to be dedicated to the Ise Grand Shrine. His works also remain among the sacred treasures of the imperial court and shrines.

His style combined broad skill that moved freely among the Yamato, Yamashiro, Bizen, and Sōshū traditions. He is, however, most renowned for the forging of the ayasugi-hada passed down in the Gassan family. This technique produces a large, wave-like herringbone pattern in the jigane, and it is a forging method unique to the school, also called Gassan-hada. Sadakazu was also known as a master of blade carving. He densely and finely engraved subjects such as Fudō-son, dragons, kurikara, bonji, and hatahoko. His carvings rank alongside his forging as the two pillars of his work. Together with the crisp clarity of the jigane and hamon, they possess a dignified and elegant refinement.

Sadakazu's achievements carried on the tradition of Japanese swords through the hardship that followed the Haitōrei. They earned him a place in the sword world as one of the master smiths representing the modern era, and they became the firm foundation of the Gassan school. His forging and carving skills were passed on to his son, Gassan Sadakatsu, and further to his grandson, Gassan Sadakazu II (later recognized as a Holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property (Living National Treasure)). The Gassan school continued unbroken throughout the modern era.