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[[File:Gassan-sadakazu.jpg|right|thumb|320px|[[Tanto|Tantô]] blade by Gassan Sadakazu, with fittings by Nomura Katsumori, c. 1870. Metropolitan Museum, 32.100.470]]
*''Born: [[1834]]''
*''Died: 1918''
*''Japanese'': 月山貞一 ''(Gassan Sadakazu)''
Gassan Sadakazu was a prominent swordsmith of the [[Meiji period]], one of the chief smiths to continue producing swords after the [[1876]] [[Haito edict|edict banning the wearing of swords]]. For a time, he worked chiefly in reproductions of famous historical blades.
Sadakazu was born in [[Omi province|Ômi province]], the son of Tsukamoto Shichirôbei. He was adopted at age seven by Ôsaka-based swordsmith [[Gassan Sadakichi]], and after years of training is said to have produced his first blade by age 14. The Gassan line claimed descent from the Gassan swordsmiths of [[Dewa province]] of the [[Heian period]], but Sadakazu's work also drew upon the styles of the Sôshû and Bizen schools.
Many swordsmiths stopped producing swords in 1876 following the ''haitô-rei'', but Sadakazu continued to work, and was officially appointed an Imperial Court Artist in [[1906]]/4.
==References==
*Gallery labels, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 32.100.470.
*"[http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9C%88%E5%B1%B1%E8%B2%9E%E4%B8%80 Gassan Sadakazu]," ''Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten'' 朝日日本歴史人物事典, Asahi Shimbunsha.
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]