The following article was part of an Nihon Token Hozen Kai (NTHK) lecture
and display presentation by Gordon Robson called "The outstanding Features
of Yamato Swords" at the 2004 Chicago Token Kai.
The Kanabo School seems to have grown out of the merging of two smaller groups located in different parts of Nara City. One group was the lineage of Masanaga, who resided within the grounds of Genkoji. They are said to be in the Sue-Tegai lineage. The area within Genkoji where they lived is called Shinya (present day Naka-Shinya-machi, Shiba-Shinya-machi and Nishi-Shinya-machi, which provides the name for this group of smiths. Moreover, there is an Eisho (1504-1521) dated work by Masanaga, who is also said to be a late period member of the Tegai school, that was dedicated to the Kaneyama shrine (presently in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum). This smith resided on the outskirts of Nara in an area called Fujiwara(present day Fujiwara-cho) with a group of smiths that included Masazane and Nobukiyo. These smiths are also known by their place name as the Fujiwara smiths. From within this group a number moved their residence to an area called Komori (present day Hon-Komori-machi, Kami-Sanjo-machi and Nishi-Sanjo-machi), which is near the Kanabo crossing or Kanabo-tsuji. I believe the Shinya group and the Fujiwara group joined forces sometime during the later part of the Tenbun era (1532-1555) and created the Kanabo School in this area. A katana made by Nobukiyo in Fujiwara is included in this exhibit.
The appearance of the place names Komori or Kanabo in a sword signature is to be found on an oshigata published in Kataoka Ginsaku sensei's Nihonto Zuikan, which I believe is the earliest dated example. The signature reads "Nanto Komori ju Fujiwara Masatsugu; Tenbun nijuyon-nen shichi-gatsu kichijitsu" (an auspicious day in the 7th month, the 24th year of Tenbun, 1555). Other early dated works include a blade from the Kozan Oshigata that reads "Nanto Komori ju Fujiwara Masatsugu; Koji san-nen hachi-gatsu kichijitsu" (an auspicious day in the 8th month, the 3rd year of Koji, 1557) as well as works by Masasada and Masatsugu with signatures that read "Nanto ju Fujiwara Ason Kanabo Saemonnojo Masasada; Eiroku ni-nen ni-gatsu kichijitsu" (an auspicious day in the 2nd month, the 2nd year of Eiroku, 1559) and "Nanto ju Kanabo Hyoenojo Masatsugu; Eiroku san-nen hachi-gatsu hi" (a day in the 8th month, the 3rd year of Eiroku, 1560).
During this period the rulers in Yamato came from Kofukuji , such as Tsutsui Junsho ] (1523-1550) and his son, Tsutsui Junkei (1549-1584), who were the heads of Kofukuji's warrior monks or sohei attached to Kofukuji's sub-temple, the Seishinin. They engaged in almost continuous battles with Matsunaga Hisahide (1510-1577), who had advanced himself from the position of steward to the Miyoshi family. In addition to this demand for swords from the Tsutsui of Kofukuji, there was also Kaku Zenbo Hoin Inei (1521-1607), who was the founder of the Hozoin School of spear fencing. He assumed the post of head priest (Daihoshi ) at the Hozoin, which was a sub-temple of Kofukuji, during the 19th year of Tenbun (1550). With Inei at its head, the Hozoin became a center for the study of spear fencing. As the Hozoin school of spear fencing used the kama-yari (jumonji-yari) as well as su-yari and naginata, there was a great deal of demand for these weapons as well. Thus, in comparison to the smiths of other groups, the sword-smiths of the Kanabo School produced a large number of yari. Moreover, the different types of yari they pro-duced were also great, for example, su-yari (straight, short yari) of hira-sankaku (three sided) and ryo-shinogi (four sided) shapes. Of course, unusually shaped jumonji-yari and omi-yari (yari of around two shaku or more in length) were also produced in great numbers. When we take into consideration the large number of extant yari, we can understand the close relationship between the Kanabo School and Hozoin Inei.
During this long period of conflict, it seems that the swords of the Kanabo School were highly praised for their cutting ability. There are blades with order-made inscriptions for warriors as far away as the Kanto region (Edo) and Kyushu, which shows that their swords achieved popularity on a national level. This popularity was not limited to just swords, but included yari, naginata and nagamaki. Nonetheless, as the Novice Course notes, Kanabo works have been treated as poor in quality, and truly those things we ought to see in their workmanship is lacking. The school produced a large number of kazuuchi blades to meet the intense demands of the Sengoku period.
Construction:
The majority of katana are hon-zukuri (shinogi-zukuri) and they typically have iori-mune. The blades are wide and thick. The shinogi are high and there is usually shallow koshi-zori with saki-zori. The kissaki are long and wide, and a large number of works with 6-kissaki can be seen. In general, the majority of swords have brusque, inelegant shapes, which is typical of blades for actual combat use. Kanmuriotoshi-zukuri katana and hon-zukuri wakizashi are occasionally seen. Although hira-zukuri and moroha-zukuri tanto are rare, there are a relatively large number of tanto with long-lengths or ko-wakizashi. Such blades have average widths and are thin. They have shallow koshi-zori with saki-zori. Though few in number, the majority of tanto are thick and with-out curvature. There are large numbers of yari, naginata and nagamaki of which many have long-lengths. With yari, there are a great number of jumonji types. These are followed by the large number of su-yari that can be seen. The majority ofjumonji-yari are of the gyukaku-gata (waterbuffalo horn shaped) style, and unusually shaped jumonji-yari are also seen. Most jumonji-yari have yokote in keeping with the style preferred by the Hozoin. The majority of su-yari are hira-sankaku and most have long-lengths. The naginata have the old style shizuka-gozen shape in which the saki-zori is high, but there is not much broadening in the point. Both wide and rather narrow blades are seen and they are typically very thick. The mune are iori. The nagamaki are shobu-zukuri with iori-mune. The saki-zori is high. The shapes of both the naginata and nagamaki are magnificent.
In general, the nakago-jiri are broad and ha-agari-kurijiri. The yasuri are kattesagari. The majority of signatures begin with "Nanto" , and those without "Nanto" begin with "Kanabo" . The Kanabo School commonly used the two "Masa" characters for their names, either the "sho-masa" or the "sei-masa". Needless to say, Kanabo is the place name of these smiths' residence; however, it is used like a surname similar to "Fujiwara". More-over, there are also works on which "Fujiwara" is either used as a surname or a place name as in "Fujiwara ju". Smiths with Fujiwara ju in their signatures are pre-Kanabo smiths, such as Masanaga, Nobukiyo, Masamune, Masatsugu and Nobukiyo , whose lineages later moved to Kanabo. There are also some Tegai smiths whose signa-tures include "Fujiwara ju," such as Kanesada , Kanekiyo and Kanesada. Within this school only Masatsugu of circa Tenbun and Kqji (1532-1558) engraved "Komori ju" in his signatures.
The engraving of official titles includes "Hayatonosho" (Palace Guard, note that the correct character should perhaps be "sho" , but the character used in Masazane's signatures is clearly "sho" , "Hayatonosuke" (Palace Guard), "Hyoenojo" (Imperial Guard) and "Saemonnojo" (Guard of the Left Gate) among others. There are also signatures that include "Ason" (Vassal of the Emperor). Although long inscriptions are typically engraved, works with accompanying dates are rare. The earliest dated work by a smith living in Kanabo is the 24th year of Tenbun date (1555) on a "Komori ju Masatsugu" katana. This is followed by works dated to the third and fourth years of Kqji (1557-8) and the third year of Eiroku (1560). There is a Masasada katana dated the second year of Eiroku (1559). With second generation Hyoenojo Masatsugu there are a relatively large number of works with accompanying dates beginning from the second year of Genki (1571) and ending with the 20th year of Tensho (1592).