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Masamine Sumitani Exhibition
In the following exhibition you will find stickers on each panel, corresponding to the relevant sections below.
Feel free to tap the section(s) you wish to view from the menu above.
A1: Masamine Sumitani
Masamine Sumitani was born here in Matto in 1921. In 1941 he entered the Japanese Sword Forging Institute of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, where he became a student of Masayuki Sakurai, and began his career as a Japanese swordsmith. He then began working on creating his own sword tempering pattern called “sumitani chouji.” With the aims of restoring a Kamakura-aged (1185 - 1333) dagger making technique, he created his own steel using a foot-pedal bellow. He also undertook a variety of activities as an artist, such as giving public advice about sword making, and recreating three famous swords* that were well known among leaders of the sword making community.
In 1981 he was designated as a Living National Treasure as protector of the Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japanese sword making. He passed away in 1998 aged 77 years.
*The three famous swords are as follows:
- Nihongo no Yari: One of Japan’s three great spears. It was once used in the imperial palace.
- Shichiseiken: A sword said to have been owned by Prince Shotoku, it contains gold inlay depicting the seven stars that form the Great Bear constellation.
- Shosoin no Tousu: A small decorative “tousu” knife held in the Shosoin Treasure House of Todaiji Temple, Nara.
A2: Sword Materials
The Japanese archipelago has very scarce iron ore reserves, but instead has iron sand which has a high quantity of iron. Through a long process, this iron sand could be processed to make a type of steel called tama hagane, which would be used for making swords.
However compared to steel made from iron ore, tama hagane is full of impurities which make steel weak. In order to make the tama hagane steel strong, it is bent 10 – 30 times to remove these impurities. Depending on the final product, different hardness’s of steel are wrapped around each other and forged together, creating swords with different flexibilities and strengths. Then, using tools such as rasps, the basic shape of the sword is made.
The swords displayed here are at this roughly finished level.
Learn all about the process of making a Japanese sword through the following displays.
A3 - A9: Japanese Sword Making Process
1. Wooden Sword Mould (see exhibition case)
When making a blade, it is sometimes made out of wood in advance to act as reference for the degree of curvature, thickness, and shape, etc. of the blade. This kind of mould is not used by every swordsmith, and Sumitani only made it when necessary.
2. Tanren Folding (A3)
When looking at a Japanese sword, you can sometimes notice black wavy patterns in the steel. This is from a process called orikaeshi tanren, and it is the biggest feature in the production of Japanese swords. Steel is repeatedly heated, bent, and hammered to evenly mix the steel, and to give the sword its beautiful patterns. It also removes the impurities in the steel in order to make it stronger.
3. Sunobe Forging and Hizukuri Shaping (A4)
Sunobe is the process of forging two kinds of steel around each other. Hizukuri follows, where the sword ridge is formed, and the sword shaped. There are many different ways to forge steel together, and each will determine the elasticity of the sword.
4. Sensuki Filing (A5)
After hizukuri, the sensuki filing is used to arrange the sword close to the finished product. After the cutting edge and non-cutting edge are filed using a rasp, the sword is fixed in place on an anvil, and rasps and “sen” files are used to cleanly form the ridge and blade lines along the side of the sword. Then the entire blade is polished with a rough compound, and finally wiped to remove fat and oils from the surface.
5. Tsuchi-tori and Tsuchi-oki Clay Placement (A6)
Japanese swords are tempered by painting the edges of the sword with clay before heating and quenching. This is to unify the different hardness’s across the sword, and to give it its beauty. How the clay is removed varies from artist to artist. While there are many methods, the most common are:
- Tsuchi-tori. Clay is applied all over the sword and then scraped off according to where the hamon (edge where the hardened and non-hardened steel meets) needs to be
- Tsuchi-oki. A thin coat of clay is applied along the entire sword with additional thick layers where necessary.
6. Yaki-Ire Tempering (A7)
After clay has been placed on the sword, it is thoroughly dried before beginning yaki-ire. Yaki-ire involves heating the entire sword to a set temperature before suddenly plunging it into water to cool it, creating the hard edge of the sword.
Through yaki-ire life is breathed into the sword. It is no exaggeration that the finished product depends on this process, and each artist develops their own way of heating swords. There was once a time when even the water used for quenching was a closely kept secret of swordsmiths.
7. Kajioshi Polishing (A8)
After tempering, the sword’s condition is checked and compared to the original blueprint of the sword. If the sword is made according to plan, any last adjustments are made, and kajioshi polishing occurs. Kajioshi means “blacksmith pushing” in Japanese, and was named this because each artist roughly polishes their own handiwork. The artist uses a coarse polishing compound to prepare the final shape of the sword, and decides how their work will be finished.
8. Engraving (A9)
After Kajioshi polishing, a professional polisher brings the sword to a mirror sheen. After this the name of the sword will be engraved into the piece of the sword that will become the handle. As a foundation for engraving, the centre of the handle-piece is roughened with a rasp. Then, using a special inscription chisel, the name is hammered in. Because it is hammered, no slag is produced. Once inscribed, the swordsmith’s work is complete.
A11: Acala Buddhist Engravings
Sometimes Buddhist themes are engraved into swords. Below are some of the types of pictures that are engraved.
Three Bodies of Buddha: One of the secret esoteric Wise Gods converted from the Indian Shiva God.
Kurikara Dragon: Shin: A variant of Acala (Fudou Myouou), it represents Buddhism and non-Buddhists as a sword and a dragon; representing the battle between the two, and the subsequent victory of Buddhism.
Name of God and Buddha: Since about the middle of the Kamakura Period (13th Century), the name of the God and Buddha whom are worshipped are carved into the sword.
Kanji and Sanskrit on Blades: There are two types of characters used on blades: Kanji (Chinese characters) and Sanskrit (South East Asian characters). The most common things written in kanji were “Hachiman Daibosatsu” (the name of a Great Buddha), as it was considered a guardian deity in ancient ceremonies. The most commonly used characters were Sanskrit, with the word “seed” (meaning “origin”, or “cause of things” in Buddhism), one-letter Buddhist names, as well as other characters with various meanings being used.
A12-14: Personal Items of Sumitani
Tsuchi-oki Clay Placement Blueprint (A12)
This is a kind of blueprint used when placing clay on the sword before tempering. Sumitani left a lot of these designs, and it shows the amount of trial and error he went through to create the ideal pattern.
Masamune Prize (A13)
Congratulatory letter for winning the Masamune Prize of exceptional swordsmith work, in addition to commending his work which was so outstanding that it did not need prior examination by the committee.
Various Polishing Stones (A14)
Various polishing stones used by Sumitani.
A15: Bachiru Engraving
Front-left: Tousu Knife Production
Sumitani not only worked on making Bizen swords and creating his own “sumitani chouji” pattern, he also worked on reproducing famous old swords using not only traditional iron work, but also ivory inlay techniques. With his creation of small swords, and tousu knives – everything from the knife to the cover was handmade by himself.
The dying and engraving of ivory – called bachiru – is a restored Tenpyo Period (729-749 AD) technique and is considered extremely difficult even among professional craftsmen.
Rear-left: Ivory
Elephant tusk ivory was used for expensive and finely detailed work (such as knife handles) because of the hardness, beautiful ivory colour, and striped age-rings in the tusks.
Front-right: Bachiru Ivory Engraving Tools
A pressing tool used to finely engrave patterns into ivory that has been died red, green, blue, etc.
A16: The Evolution of Masamine Sumitani
Masamine Sumitani started making swords at the Japanese Sword Forging Institute of Ritsumeikan University, near Kinugasayama in Kyoto, under the instruction of Masayuki Sakurai. After overcoming the ban of sword-making post WWII, he won the Special Prize at the reopening of the New Sword Exhibition in 1960, and 6 more times in following years. Then in 1964 and 1966 he received Japan’s most prestigious award – the Masamune Prize – and was able to enter the New Masterpiece Sword Exhibition without needing prior inspection (a significant feat). In 1974 he won his third Masamune Prize, a sum of which had never been won by a single person beforehand. In 1981 he was designated as a Living National Treasure as protector of the Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japanese sword making.
Changes in Style
First Period: From 1954 to around 1970 (The Age of Restoration)
During this first period Sumitani created many works that are based on famous swords made in the past. He reproduced their shape and blade pattern as faithfully as possible. There are works based on Nikko Sukezane Douyo Ichimonji – a masterpiece of the Bizen Kamakura Ichibun style. There are also works that are intended to be copies of Daihannya Nagamitsu – a representative work of Bizen Osafune style, and copies of Kagemitsu – a master craftsman of the Bizen Osafune style.
This was a period where Sumitani deepened his study of what makes a great sword, mainly by copying old works, and was also the time when sumitani chouji was first developed.
Second Period: From around 1970 to around 1985 (The Age of Creation)
In the midst of his constant desire to create and surpass old works, Sumitani added further originality to his sumitani chouji pattern while envisioning the masterpieces of old, and completed his incomparable pattern of plump clovers on the edge of the blade. Furthermore, in addition to the Bizen Ichimonji Chouji from his First Period, he also produced blades with Bitchu Aoe Reverse Chouji. However in this second period especially, he made many daggers and wakizashi swords with wide bodies, fired with the reverse chouji pattern. From earlier on, the shortage of Japanese steel had been anticipated, and as a result during this second period, Sumitani began trying to make his own Japanese steel. Around 1975 he also began studying and producing famous works from Shosoin (the treasure house of Todaiji Temple in Nara).
Third Period: From around 1985 to 1996 (The Age of Colour)
After beginning to make his own steel in 1971, he then began researching materials themselves, during which time he was improving his forging method and attempting to reproduce jigane (the pattern that appears from folding steel) of old works. Feeling the limitation of reproducing old works with tama-hagane steel, he began instead to melt down Japanese crude iron to make steel, and paying attention to the jigane patterns that developed, he changed to a different production method, creating new and unique jigane skin patterns. His works were discovered in 1989, and in 1991 they were published as closely representing the Kamakura Period style. It can be said that this is the result of his pursuit for colours such as blue, white and black within the steel.
In 1985, he began using bachiru engraving on the scabbards of swords and knives, using elephant ivory stained with red, dark blue, purple, and green, and engraved with patterns of flowers, birds, and other motifs. Thus, this period can be regarded as the pursuit of good old-fashioned colours.