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Kunikane Genealogy


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I am trying to pull together both my collection and information I have assembled on Sendai shinto.  It is possible - tho not likely I fear - that others might find some of this of interest. I guarentee nothing here. Read at you own risk!

 

 

Genealogy of the Kunikane Line

                If the swords presented so far can serve as icons that expose the opening of the Kunikane lineage, consideration of the rest of the Kunikane lineage offers a means of discussing the other swords and smiths that have to be included as the Sendai Shinto. I need to briefly review the genealogy of the Kunikane line. Most of my information comes from the Sendai Meikan. I expect that that source may have become dated. I offer this section as introductory background for further specific discussions.

Kunikane 1 was born in 1592 in what became Sendai . He must have begun smithing and his family while he was still a teenager since, as explained, Date Masamune dispatched him to an extended apprenticeship with Masatoshi.  Whatever, he learned in Kyoto, Kunikane was certainly rooted in Sendai. He had a family and a 9 year old his son waiting for him when he returned in 1619. As explained,  Kunikane 1 received the honorary tile Yamashiro Daijo  in 1627 (or  so).  When Masamune died in 1636 he took the priestly name Yokei and he kept working. In 1646 he turned responsibility as family leader over to his son but seems to have kept working for some time. He died in 1664 at the age of 71

Kunikane 2 was KK1’s son. He obviously worked closely with his father.  After his father dies, KK2  received the honorary title  Yamashiro no Kami in  1667. This award was, of course, slightly lower than his father’s rank. And altho he held the rank over only a few years before his dies in 1671 at the age of 73 he is recalled as Yamashiro Kami and his father is comparably recalled as Yamashiro Daijo.

Kunikane 3  was born in 1663 when his father  KK2’s 23. This means that KK# grew up with his father and grandfather. Certainly, this was a context within which he could develop great skill. And he did, but he never received official title and signed his swords with his personal name, “Genjiro Kunikane .”He appears to have died without issue. As luck had it, however, when KK3 was in his late 30s, his father – at the age of 62 - had a second son. This son was subsequently recognized as the 4th Kunikane, but he seems not to have thrived. He definitely made blades but I think he primarily signed his work with a simple ni-ji mei, “Kunikane.” He died in 1707 at the age of 41, apparently with only an infant son. Both his father and his grandfather were gone at that point, so the Kunikane lineage was in crisis.

I would love to have been an anthropologist there to observe how all of this was resolved. It seems, however, that the sword making community Kunikane 1 had established pulled the situation together. They probably also had plenty of political and administrative oversight from the Date castle.  

Among smiths who had studied  under KK1 was Kanekura. He practiced Yamato style sword production so when a heir for the mainline was needed, the  5th Kanekura , was adopted into the Kunikane line recognized as the 5th Kunikane. Taaah dahh.  

The next several  generations  continued sword production, but generations were short and things looked consistently bad. Kunikane 6 was the son of KK4 but he died in 1726 at the age of 34 having studied with a Sendai smith named Kunitsugu. His brother became the 7th Kunikane but he died at the age of 41. The Kunikane title then passed to his son, who became the 8th master. Unfortunately, he died at 23 and seems to have been replaced by a fellow who had been working in his forge before becoming the 9th master. Apparently because he was so new, however, he actually continued his study at the Kanekura forge…. before dying at the tender age of 30. The Kunikane line was having a hard time simply catching a break! His legitimate son was designated the heir, but he hadn’t had much time to work in the family forge so he studies with Sendai Kaneyuki and also traveled to Edo to work with Masahide himself. He used the Kunikane title after the age of 22, but he died at the age of 29 in 1794.

Forces seemed bent on keeping the Kunikane name and legacy going so Kunikane 11 found. He worked as a Kunikane, dying at the age of 51 in 1816. Kunikane 12 kept the ball in the air until 1847. He overlapped with his son who became Kunikane 13 and died at the age of 61 in 1881.

This is all pretty arcane, but I see  a couple of clear lessons.

  1. The apparent continuity of the Kunikane line seems to reflect some kind of official interest..
  2.  In addition to whatever official support there may have been, it seems that there was some kind of collaboration and cooperation within the sword making community of Sendai. When things got tough, the smiths worked together.
  3. The apparent continuity that might be suggested by the 14 generations of the Kunikane line may be greater than the reality.
  4. There certainly was NOT genetic continuity across the Edo period.
  5. There was also not very much  technical continuity in the line. Later generations were not trained in the same forge as the founder.  They did not practice with the same tools and gear as their ancestors. And they were trained by externally experienced smiths.

All this to say that the beginning of the Kunikane line and of Sendai shinto was very different from the end of those categories.

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Peter,
Why don't you add a few pics or info and turn this into a nice article on the Kunikane geneaology? Then I can add it to the articles section? It's most of the way there. I have an interest in this line too.

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Very nice Peter.   Could the "official support" of the lineage be from the Date clan?  This clan ruled Tohoku, the province holding Sendai, from Kamakura until modern times.  Just a thought. My leading guess would be that Kunikane lineage was tied to the Date the way that the Yasutsugu were tied to the Tokugawa.  

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Thanks for the positive comments. I find myself working up a discussion of Sendai shinto (and shin-shinto)  and decided to use the NMB as "peer review." You guys can check  on the content and let me know if it makes any sense. I am not sure that my stuff really measures up, but I think I can use it as a basis of discussion.

As I see it now,Sendai shinto can be understood in terms of the following categories and questions

1. blades by KK1-3 that seem "okay"

2. Niji mei Kunikanes (which presumably are the work of KK 4-9 or 10, mostly sho-to)

3. Unsigned blades that present what looks like KK masame.\, again, mainly wakizashi

4. Blades with attritution to one or another KK (the blades may be ok, but the attribution are almost totally worthless)

5. KK blades with "suspicious signatures" (atomei..?.) OMG!

6. Non Kunikane shinto

7.Sendai shin-shinto and the "new masame." - KK12 and 13.

8. The big question about Sendai shinto. - there seem like lots of sho-to. Did some KK daito become Yamato-den koto? Hmmm?

Producing all of this will take some time, but I look forward to plowing ahead. I welcome editorial and research assistance. Please be gentle.I am wandering thru terrain with sharp objects.

Peter

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Could the "official support" of the lineage be from the Date clan?  This clan ruled Tohoku, the province holding Sendai, from Kamakura until modern times. 

 

Robert,

I am sure you are correct. Indeed, it looks like Date Masamune took Kunikane1 with along when he went down to the Osaka Castle fighting and dropped him off to work with Masatoshi. Masamune awardedhim use of the 9 star crest. And KK changed his name on Masamune's passing. There is also that story about a visiting Daimyo who asked Date about a sword in koshirae. Date said it was his Masamune - altho it was NOT. That night, however, Date called KK1 to the castle and ordered him to fit his Masamune into the koshirae that had been discussed. Those guys had some issues!

Maybe someone can help me find the real story.

Peter.

P.S. And actually the Date mainly had the southeast part of Tohoku. They did not control the west side of the Ou mountains (Gassan and all that). or modern Iwate. And there really doesn't seem to have been a lot of Koto production up that way. For Sendai- shinto is the main story.

Peter

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Peter, you might be interested in this old thread about a sword that I own:

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/21346-big-box-big-story-over-my-head-on-the-translation/

 

There is a very long inscription on the blade about how it was owned by the top Date retainer, who gifted it to the top Kuwayama retainer, who happened to be a famous tameshigiri tester and cut two bodies with it and inscribed the tameshi record on the tang.

In any case, the sword was made by a Sendai maker Nagashige.  

It just papered at the last NTHK NPO shinsa in Chicago.  Cheers, Bob

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Robert,

Indeed, I had missed the thread you linked. How interesting. I also happen to have acquired nice Nagashige recently. It is 23.5" (60.2 cm) "katana" (yes, yes, I know) with Inami Hakusui sayagaki. I'm not sure which generation. and it seems that Nagashige was not part of the Kunikane - ahhh - batsu/clique so I don't know what to say about it. These guys worked in Natori which is an area south of Sendai and largely in the flat coastal country

I'll try tograb a picture - tho with a niji-mei it won't offer much!

Again, thanks

P

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