Sagami School predecessors

The Sōshū-den was essentially a merger of the magnificent hamon approaches of the Fukuoka Ichimonji and Ko-Bizen schools (in particular, the nie of the latter) with the superior workmanship of the jigane of the Awataguchi School. The Hōjō Bakufu spent a lot of money preparing for a potential third Mongolian Invasion. The Hōjō family valued the resources of the Tohoku and Kanto areas, in particular the iron ore reserves with a view of self-sustainability. A whole groups of famous wordsmiths comes to Kamakura on Hōjō Bakufu's invitation: Awataguchi Kunitsuna from Yamashiro province, Saburō Kunimune from Bizen province and Ichimonji Sukezane from Fukuoka area of Bizen province. It was these swordsmiths who were destined to become ancestors of the Sōshū traditions.