Chikuzen Samonji

Samōnji was a swordsmith who flourished in Hakata, Chikuzen Province (present-day Fukuoka Prefecture), in the early Nanboku-chō period. His birth and death dates are unknown. His father is said to have been Jitsua, likewise a Chikuzen swordsmith, and his birth name was Saemon Saburō Yasuyoshi, his initial signature being "Yasuyoshi." Later, he began signing his works with the single character "Sa" (左), and was consequently known to posterity as "Samōnji." The first generation, in whom technical skill especially excelled, is distinguished from others of the same name in the school by the epithet "Ōsa" (大左). It is said that he studied under Masamune, the renowned smith of Sagami in Kamakura, and he is numbered among the "Masamune no Jittetsu"—those ten great disciples of Masamune. He is positioned as the founder of the Kyushu Shōshū-den, having introduced the emergent Sagami tradition to the smithing practices of Kyushu, which until then had been dominated by old-style tachi making.

His workmanship displays the bright, keen jigane and strong nie characteristic of the Shōshū-den, with deep nioi-kuchi. The jigane is overlaid with thick jinie, and jikei flows abundantly. The hamon is founded on notare and gunome, displaying vigor in the nie activity. In contrast to the old-fashioned, straight-edged work that had prevailed in earlier Kyushu production, Samōnji's blades are bright and elegant, displaying the sophistication characteristic of the Nanboku-chō period. He is particularly renowned for his tantō, whose well-proportioned sugata became a model for later generations.

The authenticated works bearing his signature are all designated National Treasures. The tachi "Kōsetsu Samōnji," with a blade length of 78.2 centimeters, is the sole National Treasure tachi bearing Samōnji's authenticated signature, and is presently held by the Fukuyama Art Museum (Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture). The tantō "Sa Chikushū-jū," known by the title "Taikō Samōnji" in reference to its being treasured by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, is likewise designated a National Treasure and is preserved at the Fukuyama Art Museum. The tang is signed "Sa" on the front and "Chikushū-jū" on the reverse, presenting an exemplary specimen that plainly demonstrates the Samōnji style.

His disciples included Yasuyoshi II, as well as Yoshisada, Sadayoshi, and Yukihiro. As the Samōnji school, they widely established the Shōshū-den in Chikuzen during the Nanboku-chō period. Many works of the school have been transmitted down, including the "Sōsan Samōnji" (also called "Yoshimoto Samōnji," designated Important Cultural Property), which passed through the hands of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu—the three great unifiers—and was treasured by the military nobility. Samōnji himself is rated as a saijōsaku (highest-rank master) in sword appraisal continuing into the Shinō period, and as the representative master craftsman of Kyushu and as a great artificer who inherited the true line of the Shōshū-den, he occupies an assured and substantial place in the history of swordcraft.