Osafune Mitsutada

Osafune Mitsutada is a master craftsman revered as the virtual founder of the Osafune school, which arose in Osafune, Ōku County, Bizen Province during the mid-Kamakura period. According to the old tradition book *Kokon Meizukushi*, he is transmitted as a figure from the Hōji and Kenchō eras (ca. 1247–1255), though it is also said that he was already forging swords during the Kaetei era. The exact years of his birth and death are not known. While there is a theory that his father was Chikatada, there is no definitive proof, and it is customary to regard Mitsutada as the starting point of the school based on extant works. His son was Nagateru, who became the second master, and following the foundation laid by Mitsutada, Nagateru, Sanetada, and others continued the tradition, with Bizen Osafune developing into the largest school in Japanese sword history.

His style is brilliant and magnificent. The hamon is primarily chōji midare, interspersed with kawazu chōji, which have round, bulging heads resembling tadpoles, and large chōji arranged in succession, with gunome patterns also mixed in. The jihada is predominantly fine, densely-packed small itame, and bright utsuri stand out clearly in both the hamon and the jihada. The blade has a wide width, and he excels at creating imposing tachi with kissaki in the inoshigubi style, conveying the dynamic spirit of the mid-Kamakura period. His range of work is also distinctive, extending from calm suguha-style pieces to brilliant large midare.

Many of his representative works are meibutsu. The "Ikoma Mitsutada" takes its name from its ownership by Ikoma Sanuki no Kami Chikatada, and is regarded as the most brilliant of Mitsutada's works, passed through the Hosokawa family, is now held by the Eisei Bunko in Tokyo, and is designated a National Treasure. The "Shokudai-kiri Mitsutada" is an unsigned tachi attributed to Mitsutada, and takes its name from a legend that Date Masamune used it to cut down a retainer along with a candlestick. It was transmitted from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to Masamune and later to the Mito Tokugawa house, but was damaged in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and became charred; it is now preserved at the Tokugawa Museum in Mito, Ibaraki. The "Jikkyū Mitsutada" is a blade associated with Miyoshi Jikkyū, which Oda Nobunaga greatly treasured, but is transmitted to have been lost in a fire during the Honnō-ji Incident of 1582. Nobunaga had a particular fondness for Mitsutada's brilliant works and is recorded to have collected as many as twenty or more.

In later periods, Mitsutada was placed in the rank of supreme works and is highly regarded as the representative master of Bizen pieces known for their chōji midare. His school produced Nagateru, Kagemitsu, and Kanemitsu, among others, and reached its height. Osafune Mitsutada can truly be called the master craftsman who laid the foundation for the flourishing of Bizen Osafune.