* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Imaizumi Toshimitsu
今泉俊光
Description
Imaizumi Toshimitsu and the Revival of Bizen Blades
Imaizumi Toshimitsu was a modern swordsmith born in Saga Prefecture in Meiji 31 (1898). He is known as the “Founder of the Bizen Blade Revival” for reviving the sword-making of Bizen Osafune, which had been in decline. In Taishō 13 (1924), Toshimitsu joined a spinning company in Okayama Prefecture as an engineer, and from Shōwa 7 (1932) he began independent research into sword forging.
Devotion to Bizen Osafune
In Shōwa 9 (1934), after receiving the oral transmission of Bizen-den forging techniques, he left the company, took up the sword-making methods of Bizen Osafune in earnest, and from then on devoted his life to reviving the declining Bizen-den tradition. Bizen Osafune in Bizen Province had flourished from the Kamakura to the Muromachi period as a major centre of Japanese sword production, but after the early modern period its tradition had tended to die out. By researching and restoring these Bizen-den techniques and also striving to train younger smiths, Toshimitsu played a role in carrying the lineage of Bizen blades into the present day.
Mukansa Certification and the Memorial Hall
In Shōwa 34 (1959), Toshimitsu was certified as an Okayama Prefecture Important Intangible Cultural Property Holder. From Shōwa 45 (1970) he exhibited at the Shinsaku Meitō-ten, and he later became a Mukansa of the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (NBTHK). Mukansa is the highest rank, second only to Living National Treasure, which a smith can attain only after winning special prizes at the Shinsaku Meitō-ten on multiple occasions. At the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum in Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture, the Imaizumi Toshimitsu Memorial Hall is attached, where his sword-making tools and achievements are displayed. Toshimitsu died in Heisei 7 (1995) at the age of 97. As a rare smith who devoted his life to the revival of Bizen blades, he has left his name in the history of modern Japanese swords.