Transcript Aoe - Nihonto Message Board

AOE
青江
BaudenelleMicha 2010
Geographical considerations
The old Kibi region is situated in today’s Okayama Perfecture.
The Yoshii-, the Asahi- and the Takahashi river are the
mainreason of the location. These rivers carried rich sand
iron.
Around these 3 rivers one finds the Bizen and the
BitchuAoeSchools in the Heian period.
Yoshii
 Osafune School
Asahi
 Fukuoka Ichimonji School
Takahashi  Aoe School
Historical considerations
The Aoe started in the late Heian period. Some sources name Yasutsugu
as the founder. There are no swords left by Yasutsugu, so his son
Moritsugu is mostly considered the founder.
Unlike theBizen School, which wasprosperous until the end of the
Muromachi period, the Aoe School ended at the late Nambokucho or
early Muromachi period (depends on the source).
Unlike the Bizen School, which created sub-schools, the Aoe School did
not. Among the Bizen sub-Schools are the Ichimonji, Osafune, and
Hatakeda among others.The Aoe School wasvery conservative and
did not form into cliques. The names of smiths were handed down
for generations (mostly including the ‘tsugu’-kanji) and the
workmanship did not change a lot.
…
…
The workmanship of the Aoe School is very high quality and has been
admired since its start. Among the 12 smiths invited to work with
Emperor Gotoba (Goban Kaji) 3 werefromthe Bitchu Aoe School.
Sadatsugu, Tsunetsugu and Tsuguie, the three sons ofMunetsugu, all
belonged to the Ko-Aoe School.
At the beginning there’s little difference between the ko-Bizen School
and the Aoe School.
One can distinguish 3 periods of manufacture:
 Ko-AOE (earlyperiod)
 Chu-AOE (midperiod)
 Sue-AOE (lateperiod)
There are many disagreements concerning these divisions. Regardless
which theory one follows, the quality of Aoe blades is consistently
good. Most difficulty arises from the fact the Aoe School is very
conservative and so marking differences is not easy.
Ko-AOE
Late Heian – mid-Kamakura
Ko– AOE School
SUGATA
Standard length for that time
Fine form with relatively wide kasane
High shinogi
Koshi-sori
Fumbari
Ko-kissaki
Ko–AOE School
JIHADA
Ko-itame with ko-mokume,
Ji-nie with fine chikei
Sumigane
Jifu utsuri
O-hada (less in later period)
CHIRIMEN HADA
Chirimenhada
Ko– AOE School
HAMON
Midare on suguha basis
ashi and yo
kumo-no-iwato
muchnie
kinsuji, sunagashi
ha-hada is visible
Ko– AOE School
BOSHI
Suguha, midare
Pointed maru
Kaeri
Occasionally Ichimonji boshi or yakizume
Ichimonjiboshi
Ko– AOE School
NAKAGO
Little sori
Mostly o-sujikai yasurime sometimes kiri
mei - 2 kanji
katana mei (specific for Aoe School)
Chu-AOE
Mid-Kamakura – early Nambokucho
Chu– AOE School
SUGATA
Tachi, tanto, ko-wakizashi, nagamaki and
naginata
Broad sugata
High shinogi
Less koshi-sori, more torii-sori
Fumbari disappears
Elongated kissaki (but not yet o-kissaki)
Chu–AOE School
JIHADA
more variations
Ko-itame with ko-mokume,
Ji-nie with fine chikei
Less sumigane
Jifu and shirake utsuri are less frequent
O-hada is very rare
CHIRIMEN HADA
Chu– AOE School
HAMON
Midare on suguha basis
Saka-ashi and saka-choji
Kinsuji, sunagashi
Ko-nie
Ha-hada is still visible
Chu– AOE School
BOSHI
Suguha, midare
Pointedmaru
Kaeri
In this period the Aoe-boshi develops
AOE boshi
Sue-AOE
Mid-Nambokucho – early Muromachi
Sue– AOE School
SUGATA
O-tachi, tanto ko-wakizashi, nagamaki and
naginata
Broadform
High shinogi
Torii-sori
O-kissaki
Sue–AOE School
JIHADA
Ko-itame with ko-mokume,
Sumigane is getting scarce
Sometimes little shirake utsuri
Harder jigane
CHIRIMEN HADA
Sue– AOE School
HAMON
Midare on suguha basis
Saka-choji
Kinsuji, sunagashi
Nioi-guchi became tighter and brighter
Nioi base, this is very specific for Sue-Aoe, other
made more Nie (Soshu influence) except for the Ao
Sue– AOE School
BOSHI
Suguha, midare
Pointedmaru
Kaeri getting longer
NAKAGO
Little information (due to suriage)
Inspiredby:
*Nihonto bijutsu numbers 4, 25,30 and 31
*BitchuAoe school, Fred Weissberg
*Connoisseurs book of Japanese Swords, Nagayama
*Nihonto Kozo part II
*Swords of the Bizen tradition, Benson & Brockbank