* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Unji
雲次
Description
Son of Unshō
Unji is a swordsmith said to be the son of Unshō, founder of the Ukai school, and he worked in Ukai-gō, Bizen Province, during the Nanbokuchō period (first half of the 14th century). Together with his father Unshō and the related smith Unjū, he is a representative figure of the Unrui group; because dated signed works survive bearing Kenmu-era inscriptions (such as Kenmu 2, 1335), he is regarded as a valuable smith who substantiates the active period of the Ukai school.
Style
Unji's works display a graceful tachi form, slender with the deepest point of curvature toward the middle, and a hamon based on chū-suguha interspersed with ko-notare. This quiet, Kyoto-like idiom differs in character from the gorgeous chōji-midare of the same province's Osafune school and is valued as a clear expression of the Ukai school's traits. The jigane is a tight ko-itame.
Surviving works and designations
The "Tachi, signed Bizen-no-kuni-jū Unji" bearing a Kenmu 2 date is designated an Important Cultural Property and held by the Kyoto National Museum. Tachi and tantō with the same signature survive in the Japanese Sword Museum and elsewhere, and are valued in scholarship as benchmark works of the Ukai school.
Famous Works
- 太刀 銘 備前国住雲次／建武二年（重要文化財・京都国立博物館蔵）