Hi All,
I spent 4 hours replying to this yesterday, hit 'submit' and gone..... To where I have no idea! One day I will learn to backup as I go.
And I appologize if this is posted multiple times - having a bad computer technology day.
Anyway, here is the 60 minute version of some random thoughts on the matter - mainly speculation as I have not analyzed a Hizen sword from the inside out, nor am I a sword smith.
The Hizen Kaji was setup as one of the most advanced and innovative military machines of its day by the Nabeshima, who were tasked with, amongst other things, the protection of Nagasaki port. The location of the Kaji meant only a day’s travel by canal and ship to Nagasaki. Its location also saw a vast array of Samurai traveling the Nagasaki highway to/from Kyushu during dangerous times. Not only civil strife prevailed, but there was the constant threat of a reprisal from the ill fated Korean campaign a few years earlier, and there was an innovative Daimyo controlling the area. The Hizen Kaji was strategically placed to ensure its survival as a major sword production site for centuries to come and with an innovative leader, there comes innovative techniques.
Clearly there was a huge requirement for modern swords of the highest caliber in Kyushu, there were the men and equipment to make them at Saga, and there were boatloads of highly sought after steel at the backdoor in Nagasaki. ..... And you "don't take coals to Glasgow" - which means if you have a supply of material on hand, why carry the stuff from far away. Namban tetsu was a highly sought after and expensive commodity, and it was the McDonalds version of steel - "takeaway", so it would have cut production times down significantly. It was right there under the immediate control of the Nabeshima who were the sponsors of the Hizen Kaji. The kaji needed steel, and the Nabeshima controlled it. (Fukuoka port was to the East in Chikuzen so steel from this port would have circumvented the Nabeshima and clearly found its way to ‘mainland’ sword smiths)
Hizen Hada can be incredibly tight - almost muji - and I really do wonder if a sword smith can make this kind of hada that easily using traditional methods, and how much simpler it would be with foreign steel. I am not saying all Hizento were made with foreign steel, but there can be no doubt in my mind that some were, and I would like to think it was some of those 'man-cutter' huge swords with perfect hada - the ones you could take to the frozen wastes of Korea and it not break on the hessian and leather Mongol armour in the middle of winter. An over polished Hizento can display rather coarse core steel, much like your average Koto sword - so I doubt Barbarian steel, being an expensive commodity-would have been used in the core. Could it be that the thin outer steel was indeed the rather expensive and much sought after Namban tetsu?
The Hizen Kaji did use foreign steel - they had a teppo factory just 25 yds down the highway from the Tadayoshi forge, and there was the cannon reverbatory factory 0.5Km back from the Nagasaki highway still in the Nagase-Machi 'area' under Hashimoto control. Interesting also how some Hizen tsuba appear very 'Namban' in nature.
There was integration with the Nagasaki smiths - aka Yukihiro with Nagasaki Tanenaga, 8th Gen Tadayoshi and several other smiths who reportedly 'moved away to Nagasaki'. Eguchi states in his Hizento Hikkei when discussing Oranda kitae "In this way, in the Nagasaki district sword forging techniques that were not seen in other provinces flourished, and thus, there was a high degree of support for the branch lines of Hizento". I assume by this that the 'degree of support' meant use of Namban tetsu, but his comment is intentionally vague.
Eguchi goes on to say "Namban Tetsu" expression is rather rare; however the inscription Oranda-kitae is fairly common. He specifically says that Hizen was in charge of Nagasaki and that "it was extremely difficult situation in which to acquire imports". I read that as the Nabeshima controlled ALL of the Namban tetsu import through Nagasaki, the only other supply to the rest of Japan being through Fukuoka.
So if you were Nabeshima Katsushige in 1600 and have a supply of foreign steel and a vast kaji of metal workers hungry for the stuff - what are you going to do with it? Make ladies hair-pins, or wood nails, or use it in your advanced war machine to make pretty much perfect swords and keep it secret?
It is recorded that Yukihiro made swords with Oranda-kitae, but a scan of Hawley shows no such signatures listed, only Motte Namban tetsu with a dozen or so other smiths working mainly in the mid 1600's. Eguchi lists Yukihiro Oranda signatures, but off the top of my head I do not recall actually seeing one in any of the Hizen books. (No doubt a keen eyed reader will point me in the right direction) So to me, that says if the Hizen Kaji were using foreign steel, it was being kept very quiet and not openly publicized by the Nabeshima Daimyo.... and who wouldn't keep the latest and hottest military innovations a secret. If you were using foreign steel, would there be a stigma attached to it? You could, as Clive has argued, say that since there weren't many signatures alluding to the use of Namban Tetsu, it didn't happen. Hard to prove either way, but I think what little barbarian steel that was acquired, was used in swords, just not publicized. Speculation.
Talking of Hawley (and I know his book isn’t the definitive on this subject, but it is easy to quote from), there isn’t a single Oranda mei listed, and only a few Motte Namban Testu (some by high end smiths):
NAMBAN TETSU MEI
Akitsuna 1933
Echizen Kanenori 1661
Settsu Kunishige 1661
Nagato Masayoshi 1598
Echizen Shimosa 1661
Mimasaka Takamichi 1655
Musashi Yasukuni 1700
Echizen Yasutsugu III & IV 1658+
Musashi Yasutsugu 1600 (Big name smith) and his sons to 1781
Musashi Yoshisuke 1783
Hizen Yoshitoshi (Nagasaki) 1716
Interestingly there are some inscriptions that refer to different Tetsu …. Anyone any thoughts on these other than places in Japan?:
Motte Mochitetsu
Motte Hyotan Tetsu
Motte Gotetsu (5 plate??)
Motte Tohama Tetsu
Motte Rikuchu Satetsu (from Rikuchu?)
Motte Takasegawa Sheitetsu
Motte Shiso-tetsu
Motte Chikudo Satetsu (Chikuzen?)
So there is very little factual evidence until we dissect a sword and have it analyzed (any volunteers?). But I think there is so much circumstantial evidence to be able to say "Yes, the Hizen Kaji must have made swords with Namban Tetsu", but to what degree is unknown.
Clive, have you ever thought ………that huge, man-cutting Hizen Tadayoshi masterpiece I know you have tucked away in the safe - It may well have an outer steel of Oranda-Kitae, but it could also have core steel made of Pakistani Namban -tetsu, so I will gladly take it off your hands for a pittance. :lol:
Kind rgds,
Roger
