No laughing, but...

[Henry Wilson]

I feel this may be a silly question but here goes.

 

It seems that Nagamitsu and Jinkei could have been the same person. According to Fujishiro and Nagayama anyway.

 

Who was Jinkei? It sounds like he was famous but I can not find an account of him anywhere.

 

PS None of this in response to my

[Jean]

Hi Henry (and All members),

 

My name is Jean and I have been lurking on this site for quite a while before joining. I am 54, living in France (Paris) and have been collecting Nihonto for 3 years.

 

To answer your question, it is not Jinkei but Junkei. He is a smith of Bizen Province ans is rated Sai jo, He was active during Ko-An (1278 AD)

 

You can find him in Hawley "Jun 2" or in the Fujishiro K 503

 

Jean Laparra

[Ichi]

Hi Jean,

 

Greetings from Tokyo and welcome on board to NMB ! Yup, 順慶　150 Hawley points and same as the Nagamitsu 長光　the 1st.

 

But, this Doc doesn't agree ...... a clipping from Nihon Koto Shi

（Token Bijutsu No.568）.

 

(History of Koto)

By Dr. Honma Junji

 

(21)

 

(P.22)

A theory that Shogen Nagamitsu is the second generation has been supported by ‘Tensho Bon Mei Zukushi’ and other swordsmith directories since the Muromachi Period and people tend to appreciate his work with his Buddhist name ‘Junkei’ higher than that with ‘Nagamitsu’.

 

I would like to talk about four tachi with the smith name of ‘Junkei’ here. The hamon of the three tachi is ko-midare in ko-nie-deki and no utsuri is seen on the ji. Their workmanship is totally different from that of ordinary Nagamitsu and at a glance they don’t look like Bizen swords. Amongst them, a tachi owned by Mr. Oyamada shows a distinctive feature of Bizen swords, that is to say, the hamon is choji mixed with gunome in nioi-deki accompanied with ko-nie. All of their mei are done in the same style that is totally different from that of Nagamitsu. Considering everything, I conclude that a smith called ‘Junkei’ is a different smith from Nagamitsu.

 

 

 

(Reference photos and oshigata)

 

Juyo Bijutsu Hin : Tachi Mei “JUNKEIâ€

 

(Owned by the Sano Art Museum)

“JUNKEIâ€

“JUNKEIâ€

[Henry Wilson]

Thanks everyone. The way that Junkei was referred to made me think that he was a smith legend, a bit like Masmune or Amakuni.

 

He is still pretty barn good though

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

He is still pretty barn good though

 

Yes, he's not Junk-ei, :lol: