Antique Japanese Wakizashi, signed Sōshū-jū Masatsugu

Edo Hōjōji school · Musashi province (Edo) · c. Kyōhō era, mid-Edo period

This wakizashi bears the signature Sōshū-jū Masatsugu (相州住正次). It is attributed to the Edo Hōjōji school, a group of smiths working in Musashi province — the province of Edo, today's Tokyo — around the Kyōhō era of the mid-Edo period (the early-to-mid 18th century).

A Sōshū signature on an Edo blade — why?

At first glance the signature seems to place the smith in Sōshū (Sagami, present-day Kanagawa), yet the workmanship points to the Hōjōji school of Edo. This is not a contradiction but a window into the blade's lineage. The Hōjōji school were noted heirs to the Sōshū tradition (Sōshū-den) — the celebrated style of Masamune, built on brilliant nie activity and flowing, energetic temper lines. The school's founder was even counted among the "three disciples of Sōshū Sadamune." To inscribe Sōshū-jū — "resident of Sōshū" — was for such a smith a declaration of the tradition he worked in, an homage to the source of his style rather than a literal statement of his street address. Reading that signature against the actual workmanship is part of the pleasure of a blade like this.

The Edo Hōjōji school

The Hōjōji line traces back to Tajima province and rose to prominence in Edo, the shogunal capital, during the early Edo period. Working in the Sōshū idiom, its smiths were known for vigorous, nie-laden hardening and bright activity within the edge. By the Kyōhō era, when this blade was made, Edo was the thriving center of a peaceful, prosperous samurai society, and its swordsmiths were heirs to that refined urban culture.

Workmanship and condition

This is a wakizashi in shōbu-zukuri — the "iris-leaf" form, without the usual transverse yokote line at the point, giving the blade a clean, elegant profile — finished with an iori-mune (peaked back). It is gracefully proportioned with well-judged curvature.

The jigane is an itame grain with abundant mokume mixed throughout, worked in nie across the surface in the Sōshū manner. The hamon is a suguha (straight temper) with a gentle notare undulation and a bright nioiguchi, enlivened within the edge by kinsuji and inazuma — the bright "golden lines" and "lightning" streaks of nie activity that are among the most prized effects of Sōshū-style work. The bōshi (temper in the point) is pointed and turns back. The blade is in sound, healthy condition (kenzen) and entirely suitable for appreciation as it is.

The signature

The blade is signed on the omote (front) face of the tang: Sōshū-jū Masatsugu (相州住正次). It retains a single mekugi-ana (peg hole), and the nakago (tang) carries the even patina of age.

The blade is housed in a plain wood shirasaya, the traditional resting mount that protects the steel between viewings.

A signed, mid-Edo wakizashi in the elegant shōbu-zukuri form, attributed to the Sōshū-style Hōjōji school of Edo — a blade whose Sōshū signature, bright nie-laden steel, and kinsuji-and-inazuma activity together tell the story of how Masamune's tradition lived on in the swordsmiths of the shogunal capital.

Specifications

• Type: Wakizashi (short sword)
• Signature (mei): Sōshū-jū Masatsugu (相州住正次), omote side only
• School: Edo Hōjōji school (attributed)
• Province: Musashi (Edo, present-day Tokyo)
• Period: Mid-Edo, c. Kyōhō era (early–mid 18th c.)
• Tradition (den): Sōshū-den
• Jigane: itame with abundant mokume, nie-laden (nie-deki)
• Hamon: suguha with gentle notare, bright nioiguchi, with kinsuji and inazuma
• Bōshi: pointed, turned back (togari, kaeri)
• Blade length (nagasa): 37.7 cm / 14.84 in
• Curvature (sori): 0.9 cm
• Width at base (motohaba): 28.3 mm
• Thickness at base (motokasane): 3.6 mm
• Construction: shōbu-zukuri, iori-mune
• Mekugi-ana: 1
• Mounting: shirasaya
• Torokushō (Japanese registration) No.: Ōita 4050