Ozaki Suketaka

Lineage and Career

Ozaki Suketaka was a late-Edo-period swordsmith active in Osaka and one of the representative smiths of Osaka shinshintō. His home province was Banshū (Harima Province, southwestern present-day Hyōgo Prefecture), and he became a pupil of the swordsmith Kuroda. His common name was Gengozaemon, and he signed "Ozaki Gengozaemon Suketaka." In the twelfth month of Kansei 10 (1798) he received the honorary title Nagato no Kami, after which he signed as "Ozaki Nagato no Kami Fujiwara Suketaka" and similar forms. He died in 1805 at the age of 53.

Style

Suketaka excelled at the tōran-ba (billowing-wave hamon) in the manner of Sukehiro, forged on tightly packed ko-itame-hada. His hamon typically show a deep nioi with abundant ko-nie and a bright, clear nioiguchi. The tōran-ba was created around the Enpō era (1673–1681) by Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro of Settsu Province; expressing great ocean waves rolling ashore, it is said to have astonished its contemporaries.

In the shinshintō era the tōran-ba came back into fashion and many smiths took up its production, with Ozaki Suketaka foremost among them. Whereas many smiths worked in the Sukehiro manner alongside other styles, Suketaka alone is said to have devoted himself consistently to copying Sukehiro throughout his career.

Reputation

Although somewhat stiffer than the work of Sukehiro, who originated the style, his tōran-ba is judged to be splendid. Wakizashi signed "Ozaki Gengozaemon Suketaka" and dated the second month of Kansei 3 (1791) and of Kansei 7 (1795) survive, as does a wakizashi signed "Ozaki Nagato no Kami Fujiwara Suketaka" dated the eighth month of Kansei 11 (1799), certified Tokubetsu Hozon — confirming from extant works that he changed his signature after receiving his title. The Kansei 3 wakizashi introduced by the Kurashiki Token Museum shows finely forged ko-itame-hada with fine ji-nie, and a large gunome-midare in the tōran manner with deep nioi, ko-nie, and abundant ashi, bright and clear in both steel and hamon — described as one of his finest efforts. He is ranked jōsaku in the shinshintō rankings.

Significance

As the smith who most faithfully carried the tōran-ba style — born in Osaka in the early Edo period — into the shinshintō era roughly a century later, Suketaka is regarded as a link between Osaka shintō and Osaka shinshintō.