Gassan Sadakatsu

period Gendaito designation NBTHK Hozon nakago ubu, one mekugiana mei Omokige Niju Roku Hyaku Nen Gassan Sadakatsu Kinsaku (Kao) Made by Gassan Sadakatsu In the 2,600th year of the Empire's Founding (1940)] uramei Nippon satetsu kou gyu kabu futatsu kai sha motte seiren kou Steel refined from Japan Iron Sand Corporation stock. nagasa 68.5 cm price -sold-

Gassan 月山 is the name of a mountain in Ushu (the second character is the kanji for mountain), and this gives the old Gassan school of the koto period its name. The Gassan smiths made swords in a remarkable style in which the jihada appears as a series of rolling waves, called ayasugi hada. It is considered the key kantei point in identifying works of this school.

Though Gassan starts in koto, and there are smiths of this school in the Shinto period, it is not until the late Shinshinto period that the school begins to rise to its zenith.

At the beginning of the Shinshinto period, the grand-master Suishinshi Masahide had travelled the country encouraging swordsmiths to return to the work styles of the koto greats of old. In the revolution in technique that followed, Masahide accumulated many students of great skill. Among these students was Gassan Sadayoshi.

While Sadayoshi did not have the skill of Masahide, he sired a son who began working as a swordsmith at 14 years old, and was regarded as highly skilled at 20. He took the name of Gassan Sadakazu, and went on to become one of the true masters of his time.

In 1869 Osaka, the son of Sadakazu was born and set on the path of his talented father and eventually took the name Gassan Sadakatsu. Soon after taking up a hammer, the son like the father became considered a genius swordsmith, capable of working in all classical traditions with a high degree of skill.

Sadakazu had been appointed an Imperial Court Artist in 1906, and died twelve years later in 1918. Towards the end of his father and teacher's life, Sadakatsu often made daimei and daisaku works. As their level of skill and their styles were nearly identical, it has been concluded that it is impossible to determine whether a particular sword is only daimei or whether it is actually daisaku. That this is impossible shows how well the student inherited his father's skill.

After the death of Sadakazu, Gassan Sadakatsu in turn made swords for the imperial household, other dignataries, and shrines. During this period (the 1940s) Kurihara Hikosaburo ranked over 400 of the working swordsmiths of the time, and included Gassan Sadakatsu in the first rank (Sai-jo Saku, a rank including the top twelve of these 400).

As well as having inherited his father's talent, Gassan Sadakatsu also proved to be an excellent teacher. His son Gassan Sadaichi (also read as Sadakazu II), and his student Takahashi Sadatsugu went on to become Living National Treasures. This designation by the Japanese government is the most prestigious one can receive, as it considers that the essential and highest cultural qualities of Nihonto are embodied in the recipient.