Masamune no Jittetsu

The Masamune no Jittetsu were already well established swordsmiths who worked in their own tradition as well as studying the techniques of Masamune. There is a legend about Masamune's jittetsu (followers/disciples) that came from the depths of centuries and is known to everyone in Japan now. They were 10 as the saying goes and they studied the art of sword-making with Masamune implementing their own ideas and methods of blade forging. [Gō Yoshihiro (江義弘), Saeki Norishige (佐伯則重), Bizen Kanemitsu (備前兼光), Bizen Chōgi (備前長義), Hasabe Kunishige (長谷部国重), Sekishū Naotsuna (石州直綱), Chikuzen Samonji (筑前左文字), Yamashiro Rai Kunitsugu (山城来国次), Mino Shizu Kaneuji (美濃志津兼氏), and Mino Kinjū (美濃金重)] Probably it was one of the first kind of workshops attended not only by beginners, but experienced and well-known sword smiths. The composition of the so-called Masamune’s ten best disciples was determined in different ways at different times and by different specialists. In modern literature, its composition is uniform and includes ten masters. This list did not always consist of ten smiths: sometimes it was supplemented by Kongōbyōe Moritaka and, at one time, it did not include Rai Kunitsugu, Naotsuna or Chōgi (Nagayoshi).