Kantei #4Answer

BUNGO YUKIHIRA

Juyo Token, 47 th Session

Length: 71.4 cm
Sori: 2.0
Motohaba: 2.75 cm
Sakihaba: 1.55 cm
Kissaki Length: 2.15 cm
Nakago Length: 21.25 cm
Nakago Sori: very slight

Keijo: Shinogi zukuri, iori mune, slender body, there is a difference in the width at the moto and the saki, high Shinogi, high koshizori, has a funbari style, a tendency can be seen for the sori to become shallower to ward the saki, ko-kissaki.

Kitae: Itame and mokume mixed, it becomes a nattori hada, ji-nie is a very fine dusting, there is very fine chikei, and shirake utsuri appears.

Hamon: A taste of gunome and ko-midare mixed in suguba, ko-ashi inserted, with abundant ko-nie, hotsure here and there, kinsuji and sunagashi applied, the kinsuji is particularly noticeable at the koshi moto on the haki-omote and on the ura in about the middle, there is a small yubashiri style, and overall the nioi-guchi becomes slightly urumi (blurred as if by moistening).

Boshi: The haki-omote has a round shallow return in suguba and the saki hakkake. The ura is a yakizume style with a very slight return.

Horimono: There is an ukibori of a kurikata in a box on the haki-omote at the koshi moto.

Nakago: Ubu (slightly machi okuri), saki is a very shallow kurijiri, yasurime is unclear, four mekugi ana, mumei.

Commentary: The skill and the reputation of YUKIHIRA is the highest among the classic schools of KYUSHU (KYUSHU KOTENHA), and his extant works are also comparatively plentiful. He was called KISHINDAYU, and it is said that he was the pupil or the teacher of SO TEISHU [a priest kaji of BUNGO] of HIKOSAN. His work style is very close to that of TEISHU, the kitae is soft, it has a type of luster like that of nattori (fermented bean paste). The hamon is tempered in suguba or ko-midare, and in either case the nioi-guchi is urumi, and has the same habit (as TEISHU) of being yakiotoshi above the machi. In the works of YUKIHIRA, there is a tachi with a nenki mei of GENKYU NINEN (1205), in the beginning of the Kamakura Jidai, so the period when he was active is fairly clear. Also, the execution of the KURIKARA in the blade is very good, and horimono of JIZO BOSATSU, BONJI, MATSUKUIZURU (crane chewing on a pine), OKA (cherry blossoms) and the like are occasionally seen, but these type of engraving is not seen in works before him. The mei is always engraved on the haki-ura; the opposite of the general toko of his time.

In this work, a funbari style can be seen, it exhibits a high koshizori in which the sori droops slightly towards the saki, it shows the classic tachi sugata of a slender body and ko-kissaki, and presents characteristics of the time that are not seen after the early Kamakura period. In the kitae, itame and mokume are mixed, the ji-nie is a very fine dusting, there are very fine chikei, there is a sense of softness such as “nattori”, and shirake utsuri stands out in a unique hada arrangement. In the hamon, there is a taste of gunome and ko-midare mixed in suguba, ko-ashi inserted, abundant ko-nie, hotsure here and there, kinsuji and sunagashi are applied, there is a small yubashiri style mixed in, and overall the nioi-guchi becomes slightly urumi. In addition, there is a classically elegant horimono of a kurikara in a box on the haki-omote, and combined with the above mentioned range of work, the characteristics of the same smith are remarkably displayed, and the elegance of the Kyushu Koten Ha (Classic Schools of Kyushu) is brought out.

This is a piece that was handed down in the Kishu Tokugawa Ke (Kii Tokugawa Family) in the feudal period.