Masamune

Masamune, also known as Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, was a swordsmith who worked in Kamakura in Sagami Province from the late thirteenth to the early fourteenth century, at the end of the Kamakura period and the beginning of the Nanboku-chō period. He was a representative figure of the Sōshū smiths, who brought the Sōshū tradition (Sōshū-den) to maturity. His exact dates of birth and death are not recorded. As for his teacher-lineage, it is said that he studied under Shintōgo Kunimitsu, regarded as the founder of the Sōshū tradition. Besides the theory that he was a son of Tōsaburō Yukimitsu, there are other theories, including that he was a younger brother of Yukimitsu who later became an adopted son. These have not been settled. In any case, he is regarded as the figure who inherited the foundation of Kamakura smithing built by Kunimitsu and Yukimitsu and brought it to completion as a single artistic domain.

His style's greatest distinction lies in his mastery of nie-deki, the true essence of the Sōshū tradition. The jigane is forged by combining hard and soft steel. Ji-nie appears thickly, yubashiri and chikei appear, and the surface gleams brightly. The hamon is based on notare with gunome mixed in, and within the blade, workings such as kinsuji, sunagashi, and inazuma appear in a lively way. It is a splendid and intense work that foregrounds the beauty of nie and the workings within the blade. This became the model for the artistic domain later called "Sōshū-den nie-deki." Tantō include many carefully made works (nyūnen-saku).

What deserves special mention about Masamune's works is that very few are securely signed, and most extant works are unsigned pieces attributed to him (kiwame). Sound signed works bearing a dated inscription (nenki) hardly survive. Among the few signed pieces, the tantō "Fudō Masamune" (Important Cultural Property, held by the Tokugawa Art Museum) has a relief carving of Fudō Myōō and carved goma-bashi (ritual fire chopsticks). It is valued in research as the blade with the most reliable signature. Among the representative unsigned works are many famous blades (meibutsu) attributed to Masamune by the Hon'ami family. These include the tantō "Hyūga Masamune" (National Treasure, held by the Mitsui Memorial Museum); the katana "Kanze Masamune" (National Treasure, held by the Tokyo National Museum); the katana "Nakatsukasa Masamune" (National Treasure, owned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and on deposit at the Tokyo National Museum); the tantō "Hōchō Masamune" (National Treasure, held by the Eisei Bunko Museum, with separate examples at the Tokugawa Art Museum and elsewhere); and the katana "Ishida Masamune" (Important Cultural Property, held by the Tokyo National Museum).

As for disciples and lineage, a group of master smiths is well known, collectively called Masamune Juttetsu (Ten Great Disciples of Masamune) in later times. Sadamune, Gō Yoshihiro, Shizu Saburō Kaneuji, Samonji, Hasebe Kunishige, and Norishige are counted as its representatives. However, this designation arose in the late Edo period (bakumatsu). It includes smiths whose working years do not overlap with Masamune's. For this reason, the prevailing view is that not all of them were direct disciples, and that the designation is a later attribution (fukai).

In later evaluation, Masamune is ranked together with Awataguchi Yoshimitsu of Yamashiro and Gō Yoshihiro of Etchū as the Tenka Sansaku (the three greatest smiths). The Kyōhō Meibutsuchō records the largest number of Masamune works, fifty-nine swords: forty-one in the extant section and eighteen in the lost section. Masamune is also regarded as saijōsaku in rank, and he is renowned as the peak of the Sōshū tradition in the history of Japanese swords. In the Meiji period, the "Masamune massatsu-ron" (theory denying Masamune's existence) was also advanced because securely signed works were scarce. However, his existence is supported by the presence of signed pieces, beginning with Fudō Masamune.