The significance of mitsukado

[Emil]

As a beginner in this vast field of Japanese swords, I'm learning more and more every day.

 

I just finished reading The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords today.

 

In the book I came across the term "Mitsukado", also reffered to as "Mitsugashira" which is described as the point which the yokote, shinogi and ko-shinogi meet.

 

It's said to be a critical area where the sword smith can showcase his skill, or expose his lack of skill.

 

There were no examples provided of what this looks like in practice. Can someone please give me some examples or points to look for?

 

What distinguishes a good mitsukado from a bad one?

 

 

 

/ Emil

 

[Geraint]

Dear Emil.

 

As no one else has answered you I will offer my thoughts.  I have not been able to find this idea in Nagayama so I may have misunderstood your question. The mitsukado is not  generally considered to be an indication of the smith's skill or lack of it, the boshi most certainly is. During yakiire the smith is controlling a sometimes very long blade and controlling the temperature in the boshi is a very skillful thing to do.  Hence a well done boshi, one which demonstrates the smith's control, is indicative of a high level of skill. (See page 108 in Nagayama)

The smith is responsible for the sugata of the sword and in this case forges the kissaki to shape and then the polisher is the one who finally defines the precise shape of the blade though in theory the polish will remove very little metal and the polisher will have a high regard for the intentions of the smith.

It is conceivable that a poor polish might result in the mitsukado not being geometrically correct, the three lines that meet here are the result of three surfaces and poor shaping could result in the lines not meeting here.  I have seen polishes where the yokote has been poorly applied and seems to miss the junction, for example.  You would not expect to see such things from a properly trained togishi.

 

Hope this helps.

 

All the best.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Now that the technical aspect has been addressed somewhat, I’d like to add that Mitsukado is more generally used for three-joining road junctions, meaning ‘three corners’, a three-way crossroads. Similarly Mitsugashira is three heads, or the place where the heads of three road heads (for example) meet.

 

Not too long ago someone was saying that a sword had had a new kissaki fashioned at one time. When I inquired, he pointed at the mitsukashira, how it looked sort of ok on one side, but didn’t quite match up on the other.

[Emil]

On 9/10/2024 at 3:26 PM, Geraint said:

Hope this helps.

This was very helpful, thank you for the explanation