Hōshō

Hōshō is a school of swordsmiths that arose in Yamato Province, counted among the Five Yamato Schools (Yamato Goha) together with Senjuin, Shikkake, Tegai, and Taima. It was active mainly from the late Kamakura period into the Nanboku-chō period, and signed works show that its base was Takaichi District. Yamato swordsmithing is said to have flourished under the Fujiwara family's promotion of Buddhism, which made Yamato a major center of Buddhism. It later prospered against a backdrop of demand for armed warrior monks (sōhei) attached to temples and shrines, and the Hōshō school is considered part of this lineage of Yamato smiths. The founder is said to be Kunimitsu (also Sadamitsu), but no extant works remain. The true core consists of smiths who carry the prefix Sada-, namely Sadamune and Sadayoshi, and the names Sadakiyo and Sadaoki are also known. As a group carrying on the same signature, it flourished from the late Kamakura period into the Nanboku-chō period.

Among the Five Yamato Schools (Yamato Goha), its style is the most purely masame-hada, and this masame-hada is regarded as representative of Yamato masame-hada. Both the jigane and the hamon take nie well. The hamon is based on suguha, on which nijūba, kuichigai-ba, and uchinoke appear, and kinsuji, sunagashi, and inazuma repeatedly appear as activity. The harmony between the masame running along the jigane and the delicate kinsuji and sunagashi within the blade well shows the character of Yamato-den, in which the jiba become one.

As with Yamato blades in general, many extant Hōshō-school works bear the attribution "Hōshō" without a signature (mumei). Sadayoshi, however, stands out for leaving fine works among signed and dated tantō, and he is highly valued as a smith who exemplifies the Hōshō type. Known as a master of tantō, he produced large-bodied hirazukuri tantō of sturdy form with thick kasane. He excelled at forging masame-hada and suguha with pronounced nie.

Among the representative works, Sadayoshi's signed tantō "Dai-Hōshō" bears the date Bunpō 1 (1317). It is held by the Tokyo National Museum and designated an Important Cultural Property. The meibutsu "Kuwayama Hōshō," also by Sadayoshi, is a tantō from the late Kamakura period. It shows orderly masame-hada and suguha with strong nie, and it is designated a National Treasure. Its name derives from its possession by the Kuwayama family. Both blades clearly display masame-hada, the typical feature of the Hōshō school, and they attest that Sadayoshi was the smith who embodied this school's style at the highest level. Hōshō is classified as chūkotō of jōsaku. It is known as a school that holds its own unique position among the Five Yamato Schools (Yamato Goha), with a jigane that shows the ultimate in flowing masame.