Ranking of Japanese sword schools?

[dyn]

Hello NMB,

 

I wanted to learn more about the overall ranking of certain schools like what we have for swords/swordsmiths (saijo saku/ jo jo saku/ jo saku and so on). Is there a list out there I can refer to like we have for swordsmiths? I wanted to know what else is out there so that I can study them. I know some general facts like Hosho being a more desirable school than Shikkake. But what ARE the most desirable schools overall for collectors? I know that it really comes down to the individual sword but I'd still like a guideline for what are generally considered the better or worse schools.

[lonely panet]

Well if you judge a school by how many smiths master smiths they produced, and how many of the works received juyo and above ranking. 

 

I would has a guess that the ko bizen school would take the mantle 

[Jacques]

It's a very complex subject, and a school usually becomes famous for the number of talented swordsmiths it contains. However, Japanese experts agree that Yamashiro mono are superior in quality to Yamato mono.

[Rivkin]

Premier koto collections tend to focus either on early Soshu or on Kamakura period's Bizen/Yamashiro/possibly Aoe. Between Yamashiro and Bizen, Bizen offers by far larger number of blades so Bizen oriented collectors are more common, though Yamashiro names such as Munechika, Hisakuni or Yoshimitsu carry exceptional resonance.

I personally like Aoe a lot, but it does not have the same level celebrity names and it is also associated with a number of mediocre works, though frankly Bizen and Yamashiro also have quite a few.

[dyn]

Thanks for your inputs. Kirill, I was under the impression that Aoe (or at least ko Aoe) was a pretty good school considering that there was this old post on this forum from 2017 by Jussi who said that most Aoe in his data have juyo (link here)

 

Jacques, thanks for your info for which traditions are most valued. I'm not as familiar with Bizen as I am with Yamashiro. For Yamashiro, the top schools would be Rai and Awataguchi?

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think what Jacques and Hamfish said above is fitting to traditional Japanese appreciation. It is much too complex for me to really understand and as I personally am not oriented on quality (and I cannot fully see and understand it) but items that personally speak to me. I actually wrote a post to this yesterday but ended up scrapping it as it is really punching above my weight class. In overall I think books tend to be focused on the highly appreciated schools so reading common references will give more and more exposure to high ranked schools.

 

Aoe school has many very highly ranked smiths, and it does span for a long time from late Heian period into Muromachi. In general I do think Aoe is very highly respected in overall but I think the very late Aoe smiths of early Muromachi get pretty much no respect in sword appreciation. I do think sometimes following rankings might leave some amazing smiths and swords unchecked. Futarasan-jinja has for example amazing tachi by Aoe smith Yukitsugu (行次), amazing 87,2 cm ubu tachi from early Kamakura in great polish. Yet the sword is "only" prefecture Bunkazai, not national level. Also I think my favorite sword I saw at Tokyo National Museum was 86,0 cm tachi by Moritsugu (守次) that is dated 1356. The sword is Jūyō Bunkazai (of course extremely high rank) but I much preferred it over the 2 National treasures they had on display. I just cannot yet understand either the Yukimitsu Kokuhō tantō nor the Kikkō Sadamune Kokuhō. I saw several Sadamune that I preferred personally over the Kikkō Sadamune, still it is just my lack of understanding the fine details. Likewise I absolutely loved the unranked Ōmiya Morikage naginata that Tokyo National Museum had on display this year, I was so thrilled to see it as it has been very difficult to dig info of it. Crazy to say but I would prefer it over National treasures too...

 

Awataguchi school has produced some amazing items and it is held in super high regard. I still remember seeing the Nakigitsune wakizashi by Awataguchi Kuniyoshi many years ago as it is super item. However now I've seen the Awataguchi Kuniyasu JūBi tachi of NBTHK two years in a row, and the worksmanship of it is to my eye not what usually is expected from Awataguchi. Similarily I remember seeing another signed Awataguchi that did not feature the super fine quality usually associated with the school. However as my memory is slightly fuzzy on this as years have passed I cannot say confidently which tantō it was.

 

For Yamato tradition Taima is also often very highly valued. However with Taima the lack of signed items is to be noted. However there are many very fine mumei swords attributed as Taima.

 

Personally I like Bizen a lot as there are so many schools within the tradition and so many of the items are signed making studying the works much easier than many others. However has Bizen is such a huge amount of items remaining you will have to slice it to much smaller pieces as there are just so many branches within. This summer I saw several amazing signed works by "lower ranked" Bizen smiths that without signature I believe would be attributed to much higher ranking smiths. That is for me exactly why I value the signatures so much as they give us reference points for the smith.

 

I do agree with some of the things what I wrote 7 years ago to that thread but on some things my view on things has evolved a bit, perhaps I could say I know more stuff now than I did in 2017 and I think that is a good thing. Still I think I have 0 interest on the financial side of things as I cannot ever collect at that level, and I want to focus on the swords not the money.

[lonely panet]

I continually enjoy your words of observation and intelligence jussi.

 

You not just add substance to a topic but unbiased opinions that can only help lift up all your fellow members knowledge 

[dyn]

I agree - thank you Jussi for chiming in. Your posts on this forum have been a goldmine for me, and your thoughts are very much appreciated.

[Toryu2020]

A side note - ranking of swordsmith and sword schools has been a thing since the Edo period. One popular way to do these rankings is to split them into East and West groups like a ranking system for Sumo. You can find these “Banzuke” for all kinds of artists and public figures. I am attaching a banzuke for sword fittings artists. It should not be hard to find a banzuke for swordmakers.