Enjuha

A school of swordsmiths from Higo Province (Kumamoto Prefecture) from the end of the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period. It is an offshoot of the Rai lineage from Yamashiro Province (Kyoto Prefecture), and its founder is said to be Kunimura. Kunimura's father is said to have been the son-in-law of Rai Kuniyuki, and since Kunimura took the name Enjutaro, the school came to be called "Enju." Other famous members of the school include Kunitomo, Kunisuke, Kunitoki, and Kuninobu, and apart from Kunimura and Kunitomo, there have been several generations of swordsmiths with the same name. This school belonged to the Kikuchi clan during the Nanboku-cho period, and was especially prized among loyalists to the emperor.

[Nobuo Ogasawara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鎌倉末期から室町時代にかけての肥後国（熊本県）の刀工の一流派。山城(やましろ)国（京都府）来(らい)系の分派で、始祖は国村という。国村の父が来国行の婿といわれ、国村が延寿太郎を名のったところから、一門を「延寿」と称するに至った。一門のうちほかに国友、国資(くにすけ)、国時、国信らが名高く、国村、国友のほかは同名が数代ある。この派は南北朝時代に菊池氏に属したので、勤王家の間でとくに珍重された。

［小笠原信夫］

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