Shirikake Norinaga

Shikakake Norinaga (尻懸則長) was a sword-maker who worked in Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) from the late Kamakura period through the Nanbokuchō period and is the representative master of the Shikakake school, one of the five Yamato schools. Yamato has since ancient times housed groups of sword-makers attached to major temples such as Tōdai Temple and Kōfuku Temple, and five schools—the Senjuin, Taima, Shikakake, Tekaki, and Hōshō schools—are collectively known as the five Yamato schools. While tradition holds that the Shikakake school was founded by Norihiro, no authenticated extant works by Norihiro are known. Consequently, the prevailing scholarly view regards his son Norinaga as the school's de facto founder and representative master. The name "Shikakake" is said to derive from a place name in Yamato where the school's members resided. Furthermore, the name Norinaga did not belong to a single generation; the name was passed down through several generations spanning the late Kamakura period into the Muromachi period, with most surviving signed works attributed to the first generation of the late Kamakura period or a generation close to it.

The working style exemplifies the characteristics of the Yamato tradition. The jigane displays itame mixed with straight-grain masame flowing through it. Particularly distinctive is the jigane that flows as mokume grain near the shinogi ridge and as masame grain near the edge—a pattern called "Shikakake jigane" that serves as a hallmark of the school's steel surface. The hamon is based on a straight suguha and is distinguished by the inclusion of small gunome and small ko-midare; within the edge appear hotsure patterns, double-edge effects, and regularly spaced tamagaki-ba (parapet-like) ridges. The bōshi (point area) typically exhibits a hakikake (sweeping) form. Overall, the nie work is abundant, and while there are points of stylistic similarity to the Tekaki school and Kanenaga, another of the five Yamato schools, Norinaga's works are evaluated as having thicker nie than Kanenaga's. Such characteristics—the masame-mixed jigane, straight-edged hamon, and robust nie work—rest upon forging techniques common to the Yamato tradition.

Because Yamato sword-makers were institutionally attached to temples, many of their works remain unsigned, and it is not uncommon for later-generation experts to determine both the school affiliation and maker through attribution (gakutei). In this context, Norinaga is valuable for having left signed works; the fact that the school's working style can be discerned from authenticated examples makes him a figure of considerable importance. Among his signed tachi are examples inscribed "Made by Yamato Norinaga" and examples signed with his place of residence, such as "Shikakake, Yamato resident."

As a representative work, a "Tachi signed 'Yamato Norinaga made'" is designated an Important Cultural Property (designated in Shōwa 27, held by the Kurogane Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture). It measures 73.3 centimeters in blade length and 2.0 centimeters in sori (curve), displaying the form of a tachi with medium curve and medium point. The broad shinogi-width and elevated shinogi of the construction exemplify Yamato characteristics, and the hamon mixing gunome with straight suguha clearly manifests Norinaga's distinctive qualities—a work that, by its form, is attributed to Norinaga of the late Kamakura period. Norinaga is held in high regard as a master sword-maker representing the Yamato tradition.