Jirōtarō Naokatsu

Lineage and School

Jirōtarō Naokatsu was a swordsmith of the late Edo period and a pupil of Taikei Naotane, a master representative of the shinshintō era. Originally known as Kazusa Tarō, he entered Naotane's school, became his son-in-law, and later became an adopted son. He was granted "Jirō," an early signature of Naotane, and styled himself "Kazusa Jirō Naokatsu." He later signed as "Shōji Jirōtarō Naokatsu." Naotane was a pupil of Suishinshi Masahide, and Naokatsu is positioned within the lineage of the Suishinshi school.

Career

Naokatsu served the Akimoto family of the Tatebayashi domain in Kōzuke Province and lived in Shitaya, Edo. He died on the 22nd day of the seventh month of Ansei 5 (1858), at the age of 54. In Kaei 5 (1852) he was forging at Suibara in Echigo Province, and a katana signed "Shōji Jirōtarō Fujiwara Naokatsu, Kaei go-nen ni-gatsu hi, Echigo no Kuni Suibara ni oite kore o tsukuru" survives. Works dated Tenpō 4 (1833), Tenpō 10 (1839), and Ansei 5 (1858) also survive, showing that he continued forging from the Tenpō era through the Ansei era. His son, Yakado Naokatsu, first called himself Naoyoshi and later signed "Shōji Yakado Naokatsu." He succeeded as the second generation and forged swords from the Edo period into the Meiji period.

Style

Naokatsu excelled at copying the kataochi (slanting) gunome-midare seen in the work of Kagemitsu and Kanemitsu of the Osafune school of Bizen. Katana forged at Suibara in Echigo show well-forged ko-itame-hada with vivid midare-utsuri and are regarded as copies of Kagemitsu. However, the bōshi at the tip, which gently undulates, is said to differ from Kagemitsu.

Some works take as their model the old Kanemitsu, in which the kataochi gunome slants in reverse across the entire blade and the ashi enter well. His style is broadly divided into the Bizen Tradition and the Sōshū tradition. In particular, his works in the Bizen Tradition in the manner of Kagemitsu and Kanemitsu are said to have a more majestic form than Naotane's, and some are said to surpass Naotane's own.

Reputation

In his later years Naotane is said to have had Naokatsu produce a great many works on his behalf (daisaku), which shows the depth of his master's trust. Known as a smith who faithfully carried on the style of his master Naotane, Naokatsu is ranked jōjōsaku in the shinshintō rankings. As a smith who inherited both the Bizen Tradition and the Sōshū manners of Naotane, he is an indispensable presence in any account of late-Edo shinshintō.