Gassan Sadakatsu
Gassan Sadakatsu was born in 1869, the first son of Gassan Sadakazu in Osaka and the third heir to the Gassan line since it’s reestablishment in about 1830 by Sadayoshi. He began his training at a very early age developing skills that rivaled his fathers but resisted make swords in his own name before 1918, instead assisting his father in his waning years producing daisaku swords. Sadakatsu’s earliest known signed work is a wakizashi preserved at the Dewa Sansen Shrine, dated Taisho Shichi Nen (1918) presented to the Crown Prince on his assumption of that office (see footnote 1). The legacy of the Osaka Gassan School passed to Sadakatsu upon the death of his father in that same year, and in 1921 the Imperial Household began patronage of his works for the Emperor, the Imperial Ministry, and high ranking military officials. Undoubtedly, his works attracted the attention of the socially and economically affluent as well.
Sadakatsu’s skills shone in his ability for the classic Ayasugi hada that the Gassan School was renowned for since Koto times, but also clearly demonstrated proficiency in Bizen and Soshu style works as well. His father had maintained a career as a swordsmith during the Meiji and Taisho periods when survival was dependant on patrons desiring skillful copies of works by famous smiths such as Masamune and the Ko-Bizen school. Sadakatsu naturally gleaned these comprehensive skills from his father. Many of his own earlier works are revivals of the elegant shapes from the Heian and Kamakura periods with slender, graceful lines, small kissaki, and horimono that demonstrate the masterful skills of engraving contemporary Gassan smiths continue to this day.
As a horimonoshi, Sadakatsu favored plum trees and quotes from poems by Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801), the author of the Kokugaku (see footnote 2). Sadakatsu’s reference to Norinagas works seems chronologically appropriate for two reasons; the rise of increasingly nationalistic beliefs coinciding with the Kokugaku’s tenets, and Norinaga’s poetic concept of “mono no aware” whereby “things” or “mono” are mediums which convey a feeling of wholeness in life as intended and orchestrated by the gods. Considering the patronage he enjoyed the symbolic, thought provoking undertones of these horimono were appropriate and unified the sword as the icon of social beliefs, political posture, and national pride.
The Gassan are meticulous craftsman and the nakago of their works are finished with a form evoking the philosophy to seek perfection in every work, yet realize man’s imperfection precludes this ascension. Gassan nakago yasuri are an extension of this belief and it has been said that when examined, one can find that there will be at least a singularly odd stroke as a visible hallmark of humility of one’s self and respect to prior masters. Gassan mei are immediately recognizable for the painstaking care in form and execution. Truly, a Gassan sword is not finished until the last stroke is proficiently laid.
Sadakatsu trained many students of who became skilled smiths on their own. Both he, a great portion of these smiths supplied sword blades to the Osaka Rikugun Zoheisho (Osaka Army Arsenal) during the Second World War. His deshi, Takahashi Sadatsugu became the first Living National treasure in 1955 and his son, Sadaichi (later Sadakazu II) also became a Living National Treasure in 1971. Sadakatsu died on December 24 th, 1943 at the age of 74.
Description:
NOTE: We apologize, but we are still working on photographs of the sword profiled here in the biography.
This sword exhibits an elegant shape reflecting the golden age of sword manufacture in Japan. The form immediately resembles the shape of the Heian Ko-Bizen school with a modest width and graceful koshizori. One might reasonably imagine a sword of this shape to be fitted in Efu no Dachi mounts, for court use or display.
The hamon clearly is worked in the very earliest style of ko-choji which upon first glance is more suguha than choji based. The choji lobes are small, regular, and methodically placed in miniature form. Tiny delicate ashi reach to the edge from the habuchi. There are some miniature uchinoke about, as well as some yo and konie.
Upon first examination, the jihada would appear almost muji. Further examination reveals a remarkably tight and subdued classic Gassan Ayasugi hada. The hada is not nearly as pronounced (dare I say “garish”) as some Gassan works often demonstrated, and it is forged in such a way as to support the Ko-Bizen hamon and prevent distortion of the habuchi. The differentiation between the layers is somewhat indistinct due in part to the polish imparted, but more indicative of the choice of steel. It could be surmised that the different steels incoporated were not vastly dissimilar in composition (contrary to most Gassan works) thus creating a more uniform material to support the habuchi and a quieter hada, yet still clearly defining this work as a Gassan creation. Also, the jigane alludes to regularly formed choji-utsuri. However, this is a bit of an optical illusion created by light casting differently from the compression patterns in the Ayasugi waves. Nonetheless, it is very intriguing and provides somewhat of a new dimension for study of this work. Changing the angle held produces interesting characteristics that prompt questions and lead the viewer to investigate further. The nagasa of this sword measures 26 3/8 inches is signed tachimei. The left side of the omote reads:
Osaka ju Gassan Sadakatsu kin saku
Gassan Sadakatsu, a resident of Osaka, respectfully made this.
The right side omote reads:
Taisho juni nen go gatsu kichi nichi
A lucky day in May, 1923.
The ura side reads:
Tame Tomohiro hiro1272ji34 uji
Additionally, there is speculation that many of the habaki seen on Sadakatsu’s swords were made by his hand and have an identifiable “botan yasuri” style. There are indeed numerous extant habaki consistant in this style on Sadakatsu’s works to support this conclusion.
Sadakatsu’s works are the benchmark for contemporary 20 th century sword Japanese sword crafts. As a gendaito smith, he is rated at 3 million yen in the Toko Tai, with Superior Grade Gendaito. Interestingly enough, he is also listed in Fujishiro’s Shinto hen with brevity, but is not rated. The Shinto Hen was originally written in 1938, so the contemporanaety of Sadakatsu (as well as some other well known gendaito smiths) precluded him from being rated. The same is also true for his son, Sadamitsu, who is also listed, but sans rating. Nonetheless, Sadakatsu was the premiere smith of the 20 th century and will without doubt be revered in the future as a archetypal craftsman of the Gendaito period.
1 An oshigata of this wakizashi is shown in the catalog, The Gassan Tradition, from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in which the text lists the date as Taisho Ju nen (1921). However the swords oshigata shows the date as Taisho Shichi nen (1918). The characters for Ju (10) and Shichi (7) are similar, and could understandably have been misconstrued.
2 The book, Kokugaku, subtly presented the rejection of foreign influences that could defile the pure Japanese culture he believed to be the “head” above the “body” of all other cultures.
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