◆Komidare

Komidare is a hamon with small intricate irregular pattern. It is a primitive pattern which can be seen mainly on swords made in the late Heian to the early Kamakura period. It is a natural and quaint style hamon made without a strong intention of the swordsmiths.  hamon made without a strong intention of the swordsmiths.

◆Suguha

Suguha is a hamon that runs in a straight line parallel with the sword’s edge.  The suguha appears on swords dating from the earliest period. The suguha remained the basic form of temper line and numerous swordsmiths from every period, working in every region liked to use this style.  Depending on the width of the hamon, the suguha is divided into hiro-suguha (wide), chū-suguha (medium) and hoso-suguha (narrow).

◆Chōji

Chōji is so named because of its resemblance to the buds of the clove tree and this pttern was a favored by the Ichimonji in Bizen Province (Okayama Prefecture).  There are numerous different varieties of chōji hamon, including kawazuko chōji (tadpole clove), jūka chōji (overlapping clove), kobushigata chōji (fist-shaped clove), etc.  The pattern obsoleted in the Muromachi period, but later, during the Edo period, numerous swordsmiths, particularly those of the Ishidō School produced swords with a chōji hamon closely resembling those of the Ichimonji School.

◆Notare

Notare is a hamon which looks like a gentle wave of flowing water. The notare based swords started to appear around the end of Kamakura period and the actual founder of notare is Masamune from Sagami (Kanagawa prefecture) who completed the Sōshū tradition. This tradition became popular nationwide in the Nanbokuchō period and its notare hamon influenced swordsmiths in Bizen (Okayama prefecture).

◆Gunome

Gunome consists of a series of semicircles, resembling a row of the stones used in the game ‘Go’ viewed from the side, and it has been suggested that for this reason, it was initially known as ‘gonome’, although there are various other theories regarding the origin of the name.  From the late Kamakura period, hamon based on gunome began to be produced and gradually a range of varieties on this theme was developed.  Among these were the gunome chōji, kaku gunome, kataochi gunome (slanting gunome), etc. The swordsmith group of Seki in Mino (Gifu prefecture), which was active in the Muromachi period, emphasized the gunome pattern in their designs. 

◆Togari-ba

Togari-ba is an irregular hamon with tapered shapes. It is a hamon often made by the swordsmiths in Mino (Gifu prefecture) and 2nd generation Kanemoto (Magoroku Kanemoto) is known as the leading swordsmith. Since Kanemoto’s togari-ba pattern often showed the repetition of 3 tapered shapes in one set, it is called Sanbon Sugi (3 cedar trees). As the time goes on, the pattern gets more regular and pointy which give the hamon a vigorous look.

◆Hitatsura

Hitatsura is a hamon with tobiyaki, yubashiri, muneyaki and other activities are seenshowing not only on hamon but on other areas of the blade. It is the dynamic hamon that Hiromitsu and Akihiro from Sagami (Kanagawa prefecture) and the Hasebe school in Yamashiro (Kyoto prefecture) completed as a style in Nanbokuchō period.

 

◆Hako-ba

Hako-ba means a hamon with large irregular pattern angled and slightly stretched sideways which literally look like box-shapes. This hamon pattern is shown clearly on the swords made by Muramasa who was active in Ise (Mie prefecture) in the late Muromachi period. In the Edo period, it is also remarkable on the swords made by the smiths in Kashū(Ishikawa prefecture). In addition, Muramasa is famous for making the same hamon on both sides of the blade. 

 

◆Tōran

Tōran-ba is a hamon which looks like as if surging waves are rolling back and forth. It was created by a swordsmith in Settsu (Osaka prefecture), Sukehiro, in the early Edo period. It is the very first pictorial hamon which showed “a hamon as an expression”. It had a great influence on many swordsmiths over time. It is an innovative hamon which is copied on some swords made from the Bakumatsu (end of Edo period) until now.