Volume IX, Koto, Part 3 ISBN 1-888612-04-5

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Although this is Part 3 of the Koto, and Volume IX of the set, I chose to do this one first among the Koto because about 65% of this volume is devoted to Bizen, from the earliest times up to the great flood of the Yoshii River in 1591. It is said that about 25% of Koto blades still in existence are from Bizen, thus the reason for the choice is obvious. This is divided into the the major groups, such as Ko-Bizen, Fukuoka Ichimonji, Yoshioka Ichimonji, Iwato Ichimonji, Bizen Saburo Kunimune Ha, Osafune, Hatakeda, Soden Bizen, Oei Bizen, Sue Bizen, and other major Ha. In addition to Bizen, Chikuzen and Nagato are also covered. Also, the Nankaido is discussed, which includes the four kuni of Shikoku, which are Awa, Sanuki, Iyo and Tosa, plus the Island of Awaji, and Kii no Kuni on the main island of Honshu. Included are distrubution maps of the toko of various regions. Historical facts, legends, and myths are also included. In many cases, these items are mentioned in passing, since the authors would naturally assume that any Japanese would know the items to which they are referring. However, for the convenience of the foreign readers, I have referred to additional sources to in order to provide enough information so that they would also become familiar with the particulars. This is the first volume that I have produced using Aldus PageMaker© in Japanese. Using this program, the Japanese writing is inserted in true type fonts, which takes up much less memory than the earlier bit mapped fonts, and is very quick to use. Therefore, I have rendered swordsmith's names, place names, and nengo in upper-case letters, and have placed the kanji after them. Each time a nengo is referenced, the inclusive dates are also included. The captions are also typed in, which is much better than the scanning used in the two preceding volumes. Also, the kanji are included in the glossary. This program makes the book look as if it were type set in Japan. This volume comprises a 120 page frontispiece section and a 390 page main text section, plus a ten page glossary.

Now then, following table of contents does not fully reveal the wealth of information in this volume. The section on Bizen consists of 250 pages, and the index is 8 pages, double columns.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Long vowels have been omitted due to variances in internet servers

ILLUSTRATIONS OF REPRESENTATIVE SWORDS

SANYODO (3)

INTRODUCTION
CHIKUZEN NO KUNI
GENEALOGY AND GENERAL OUTLINE
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE WORK STYLE OF THE FIRST PERIOD
WORK STYLES OF THE TOKO OF THIS PERIOD
RYOSAI, NYUSAI, SAIREN
CHIKUZEN TOKO DISTRIBUTION MAP
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE WORK STYLE OF THE SECOND PERIOD
WORK STYLES OF THE TOKO OF THIS PERIOD
YASUYOSHI
WORK STYLES OF OTHER HA
HIROYOSHI, YOSHISADA, KUNIHIRO, YUKIHIRO, HROYASU, YOSHIHIRO, SADAYOSHI, SADAYUKI, SADAKUNI, YUKISUE, HIROZANE (JOSHIN), SADAYOSHI, SADAHIRO, YASUYUKI
OTHER SMITHS OF THIS HA
KANGOHYOE
KEIZU AND TOKO (GENEALOGY CHART AND SWORDMITHS)
WORK STYLE
OTHER TOKO OF THIS HA

NAGATO NO KUNI

GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE KEIZU
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE WORK STYLE
WORK STYLES OF THE INDIVIDUAL SMITHS
THE LAST YASUYOSHI
YUKIAKI (GYOKAN), HARUAKIRA
OTHER SMITHS OF THIS KUNI
AKIKUNI, YUKIKUNI, AKINAGA
(ADDENDUM)
EXPLANATIONS OF CHKUZEN AND NAGATO WORKS
SUMMARIES OF REFERENCE BOOKS AND EXCERPTS FROM THEM
SAIREN, JITSUA, NYUSAI, SA

NANKAIDO

KII NO KUNI

KEIZU AND TOKO
WORK STYLES
IRUKA MONO (IRUKA (WORKS)
KUNITSUGU

AWAJI NO KUNI

AWA NO KUNI

KEIZU IN THE KOSEI KOTO MEIKAN
KEZU IN THE KOTO MEIJIN TAIZEN
WORK STYLE OF THIS HA

SANUKI NO KUNI

IYO NO KUNI

TOSA NO KUNI

SANYODO (4)

BIZEN NO KUNI

GENERAL OUTLINE
KO-BIZEN
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
YOSHIOKA ICHIMONJI
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
IWATO ICHIMONJI
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
OSAFUNE MONO
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLES
MITSUTADA, NAGAMITSU, KAGEMITSU, CHIKAKAGE
HATAKEDA IPPA
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
MORIIE
WORK STYLE
MORIIE (NIDAI)
SODEN BIZEN
GENERAL OUTLINE
KANEMITSU IPPA
WORK STYLE
TOMOMITSU, YOSHIMITSU, MOTOMITSU, MASAMITSU, NADO (ETC.)
NAGAYOSHI IPPA
KEIZU AND WORK STYLE
MOTOSHIGE IPPA
KEIZU AND WORK STYLE
UNRUI
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
OMIYA IPPA
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
KAGENORI, KIYONORI, NAGANORI, NADO
KAGEHIDE IPPA
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLE
KAGEHIDE
OEI BIZEN
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLES
MORIMITSU, YASUMITSU, IESUKE, TSUNIIE, NADO
NORIMITSU
SUE BIZEN
GENERAL OUTLINE AND KEIZU
WORK STYLES
KATSUMITSU, MUNEMITSU, NADO
TADAMITSU, KIYOMITSU, SUKESADA

EPILOGUE

INDEX

GLOSSARY

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