Who was the best maker of Japanese Swords in history? Grandmaster series, issue 1.

[Hoshi]

Hello everyone,

 

Thank you for the positive support on the first article, I sincerely appreciate it. I've decided to test the waters and gauge interest in a series of in-depth articles on the grandmasters of Nihonto. 

 

This ties into a contentious question which is endlessly engaging for enthusiasts. 

 

Who was the greatest maker of Japanese swords in history?

 

Of course, there are many valid answers to this question, but reaching an informed perspective requires knowledge. Much of that knowledge is rather arcane and not readily available in the West. 

 

As for the format, it's an attempt to strike a delicate balance between casual storytelling and academic rigor. As you can imagine, collecting data and sources for these articles is a tremendous effort, and this work wouldn't have been possible without the invaluable help of many friends in the field. You know who you are, thank you.

 

I'll be refining the format over time, so if you find it borderline impenetrable or confusing, please let me know, and I'll tune the style going forward. 

 

This is a first draft, and I plan to keep it as a living document, updating it as needed. If you have high-quality material on Mitsutada blades—such as beautiful photos—to share and enrich the article, feel free to send me a PM. I'll be sure to credit you as the source. In the same spirit, there are bound to be mistakes that need corrections, along with typos and the like. Any help with polishing is most welcome.

 

Here's the article: https://nihontology.substack.com/p/grandmaster-mitsutada

 

If you're genuinely interested, share with friends in the hobby and encourage them to subscribe, it will encourage me to move forward with this work! 

 

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching,

 

Hoshi

[Rivkin]

I actually really liked this one!

[Scogg]

Amazing work! It was a pleasant surprise to find this in my inbox this afternoon, and a great read. 
 

These posts of yours are a real benefit to the forum and community. Thank you so much, and I look forward to the next one! 

-Sam 

[Schneeds]

Can't imagine how long it took to create this; it's excellent.

 

As a professional  I am jealous of some of that photography, from what I believe is Yuhindo; basically perfection. 

[C0D]

Excellent article with great pictures, must have taken a lot of time and effort to create it

[Brian]

That's an incredibly detailed, comprehensive, well written and well presented article. Well done, well worth saving. 

[nulldevice]

About half way through so far and it's a wonderful read just like the last article. Thanks Hoshi!

[Alex A]

Very nice write-up, cheers.

[Lewis B]

Another seminal document from Hoshi and Sesko. Looking forward to the next instalments. 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Amazing