Osafune Kagehide

Positioning of Osafune Kagehide

Osafune Kagehide was a swordsmith who was active in Osafune, Bizen Province, during the Bun'ei era (approximately 1264–1275) of the mid-Kamakura period. He is traditionally held to have been a younger brother of Mitsutada, who is regarded as the founder of the Osafune school, or else a closely related smith of Mitsutada's lineage. Whereas Mitsutada laid the foundations of the Bizen tradition, Kagehide received his tutelage and yet opened up a distinctive range of works of his own. Few signed works by him survive.

Style and Characteristics of Jigane and Hamon

Kagehide's blades, like Mitsutada's, display the characteristics of mid-Kamakura Bizen, yet they have a somewhat different individuality. The tachi form is broad in width and has funbari, giving the proportions typical of mid-Kamakura, and many have small kissaki tending toward ikubi-kissaki.

The jigane shows a typical Bizen surface: ko-itame-hada closely packed, with ji-nie, and with midare-utsuri standing out.

The hamon is chiefly chōji-midare, with kawazuko-chōji and jūka-chōji mixed in, producing a splendid irregular pattern. Compared with Mitsutada's hamon, Kagehide's hamon varies markedly in width, mixes in togari-ba, and works are known in which the hamon rises so high that it reaches tobiyaki or the shinogi. The bōshi often turns back in disorder and forms a small round tip, or takes a pointed form.

Representative Work: Kuronbo-giri Kagehide

The work that has made Kagehide's name most widely known is the tachi called Kuronbo-giri Kagehide (signed Kagehide). Its blade length is approximately 73.0 centimeters, and although it has been suriage, the two-character signature 景秀 (Kagehide) is boldly carved on the nakago. It is said to be a tachi worn by Date Masamune in the field during the Bunroku campaign (1592–1593). The appellation Kuronbo-giri first appears in literature of the Taishō period.

This tachi was designated a former National Treasure (under the pre-war law) in Shōwa 6 (1931), and it is now owned by a private individual in Osaka Prefecture as an Important Cultural Property. The workmanship, with splendid chōji-midare on a mokume jigane bearing beautiful ji-nie, conveys Kagehide's high level of skill to the present day.

Evaluation and Later Influence

In terms of rank, Kagehide is placed in the jōsaku category, and he receives an evaluation comparable to that of the saijōsaku smiths Mitsutada, Nagamitsu, and Kagemitsu. Because the number of extant signed works is extremely small, the accumulation of appraisal documents and the traditions handed down by the Hon'ami family play an important role in research on his works. His style is described as having served as a bridge toward the later flourishing of the Osafune school, and his name is recorded in sword history as one of the smiths representing the mature phase of Kamakura-period Bizen.