* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kashū Ietsugu
加州家次
Description
Lineage
Kashū Ietsugu was a swordsmith of the Fujishima school active in Kaga Province (present-day Ishikawa Prefecture). The first-generation Ietsugu is said to have been active around the Ōei era in the early Muromachi period, and the line continued through the late Muromachi period. Accounts of the school's origin vary; one holds that it descended from the Chiyotsuru school of Echizen, and the first Ietsugu is said to have resided in Hashizume, Nomi District (present-day Hashizume-machi, Komatsu City), for which reason the line is also called the Hashizume line. In Kaga, blades of the Ietsugu group were traditionally referred to as "Hashizume-mono."
The Name "Kaga Aoe"
Because a swordsmith of the same name, Ietsugu, was active in the Aoe school of Bitchū Province, Kashū Ietsugu came to be called "Kaga Aoe" to distinguish the two. The resemblance of his work to Aoe-school style is also said to have contributed to the currency of this alternate name.
Style
His hamon has a soft nioiguchi and is generally based on suguha, blended with notare and gunome or gunome-chōji. Kinsuji and inazuma appear within the ha, showing rich activity in which nioi and nie intermingle. In Kaga, his blades were valued as effective cutting swords (wazamono), and many surviving examples carry hozon (preservation) certification and remain in circulation.
Assessment
Kashū Ietsugu is regarded as one of the representative koto-period swordsmiths of Kaga, and his work has been featured in special exhibitions on Kaga swords and crafts at the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History. He is a distinct smith, differing in period and lineage from other Kaga-based smiths such as Fujishima Tomoshige, Kashū Kiyomitsu, and Darani Katsukuni I.
Famous Works
- 刀 銘 家次（加州）