Wakizashi Muromachi Soshu

Wakizashi from the middle Muromachi period, Koto, mounted in shirasaya with sayagaki signed 相州住行光 Soshu ju Yukimitsu. Shinogi zukuri sugata, iori mune, koshi zori. Mokume hada mixed with itame, compact, with chikei and sumigane. Gunome choji midare hamon, in nioi deki and bright ko nie, with sunagashi, hakikake and nie zukure. The boshi is suguha on the omote side and midare on the ura side. Nakago ubu, 2 mekugi ana, ha agari kurijiri nakagojiri. The wakizashi belongs to the Soshu school.

Soshu refers to the ancient province of Sagami, now Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanto. In the 12th century Minamoto no Yoritomo moved the political headquarters of the shogunate to Kamakura, in Sagami province, thus increasing the demand for weapons to meet the needs of the army. In order to improve the quality of production, the shogunate decided to invite Awataguchi Kunitsuna from Yamashiro province, Kunimune and Sukesane from Bizen province to Kamakura. This was the beginning of Soshu-den. Founder of Soshu den was Shintogo Kunimitsu, son of Awataguchi Kunitsuna. His students were Yukimitsu, Norishige and Masamune. Among these, Masamune in particular emerged at the end of the Kamakura period, universally recognized as one of the greatest exponents of Soshu den and of the Japanese sword in general. Thanks to him, Soshu's fame spread throughout the country until it reached an era of prosperity during the Nanbokucho period.