There was a recent NMB discussion on Kiyomaro which I enjoyed a lot, also rereading the one year old discussion on this smith. Thus I thought I might share the chapter of my 2012 published Legends and Stories around the Japanese Sword 2 dealing with Kiyomaro. Minamoto Kiyomaro (源清麿) was born under the civilian name „Yamaura Kuranosuke“ (山浦内蔵助) on the sixth day of the third month of Bunka ten (文化, 1813) as the son of Masatomo (昌友) in the village of Akaiwa (赤岩) in Shinano´s Komoro fief (小諸藩). Besides „Kuranosuke“ he also bore the first name „Tamaki“ (環) in his younger years. With his older brother Masao (真雄) he entered apprenticeship with the local smith Kawamura Toshitaka (河村寿隆) in Bunsei twelve (文政, 1829) and signed from then on with the names „Ikkansai Masayuki“ (一貫斎正行), „Hidetoshi“ (秀寿), and again with „Masayuki“.

His father Yamaura Ji´emon (山浦治右衛門, ?-1845), besides „Masatomo“, also used the name „Nobukaze“ (信風) and was, according to transmission, the eighth generation village head of Akaiwa. His posthumous Buddhist name „Kai´un-Tessen“ (海雲鉄船) gives rise to the speculation of his main profession. Such names usually try to allude with one or two characters to the person´s life, and as the character „tetsu“ (鉄) for „iron“ was used it is assumed that Masatomo was a swordsmith too.

Kiyomaro´s wife was from the village of Ōishi (大石) which lied about 1,5 km to the east of Komoro. She was the daughter of a certain Nagaoka Kume´emon Masanobu (長岡久米右衛門政信, ?- 1816) and was born in the seventh year of Bunka (1810), i.e. she was three years older than Kiyomaro. It is said that it was a love marriage, then why did he leave his wife and kid shortly later, as his gravestone bears an inscription that says that he left the Nagaoka family in the second year of Tenpō (天保, 1831) at the young age of 19?

Some assume it was „just“ an arranged marriage from which he tried to escape. Others say that the young Tamaki was a pretty boy and that he wasn´t able to settle down. And others speculate that he left the house because of a dispute with his mother-in-law who was against the marriage because she feared he couldn´t feed the family as a swordsmith in those years. What is certain is that there are no official documents extant where he is listed with the family name „Nagaoka“ nor which mention that the young couple were actually divorced. But the Yamaura family was also not satisfied with the lifestyle of the young Kiyomaro and disinherited him so it was impossible for him return to Akaiwa anyway. For reasons unknown today he first visited Shinano´s castle town of Matsushiro (松代). This can be proved by extant blades, for example a tantō signed „Yamaura Masayuki – Kaizu-jō ni oite – Tenpō sannen hachigatsu-hi“ (山浦正行・於海津城造之・天保三年八月日, „made by Yamaura Masayuki on a day of the eighth month of Tenpō three [1832] in Kaizu Castle“). Incidentally, „Kaizu“ was the old name of Matsushiro Castle. It is assumed that he might have visited his friend Tsuge Kahei (拓植嘉兵衛) who was a master nagamaki fencer of the Matsushiro fief.

Anyway, two extant blades from the fifth year of Tenpō (1834) are signed with the name „Hidetoshi“ (秀寿). As mentioned above, it is transmitted that he had studied with his older brother for about five years under Kawamura Toshitaka. But this apprenticeship is doubted by some experts because of the name „Hidetoshi“. If he was the student of Toshitaka, his master would surely have not granted him the smith name „Hidetoshi“ because it is composed of the characters „Hide“ (秀) and „toshi“ (寿) which means in this combination „the one who surpasses the Toshi“. The same experts assume that he was „just“ a student of his older brother who signed back then with „Toshimasa“ (寿昌). And when the latter recognized the great talent of Kiyomaro, it was him who gave him the name „Hidetoshi“ (i.e. „better than Toshi[taka]“). Another theory says that Kiyomaro was taught by the great master Taikei Naotane because the latter visited the daimyō of the Matsushiro fief, the castle town of the same same, on invitation of the Sanada family (真田) in Tenpō four (1833). So, at least from a chronological point of view, this master-student relationship can´t be ruled out.

However, in winter of Tenpō five (1834) Kiyomaro arrived at Edo. A transmission suggests that he first made a small detour to Ōishi to visit his wife and his son Umesaku (梅作) but he was turned away by his wife´s family which made his new start in Edo easier. There, on recommendation of Tsuge Kahei, he visited Kubota Sugane (窪田清音, 1791-1866) who gave him some advice in sword forging and instructed him in martial arts. Besides the Nakajima-ryū (中島流) of shooting, the Yamaga-ryū (山鹿流) of strategy and tactics, and the Tamiya-ryū (田宮流) of iaidō, Sugane was well versed in ten more styles. Later he became one of the instructors at the kōbusho (講武所), a military training facility of the bakufu founded in 1854 where the sons of hatamoto and other high-ranking officials were trained. Kubota Sugane was not a swordsmith and so his „advices“ lie somewhat in the dark, but from documents of Kiyomaro´s student Saitō Kiyondo (斎藤清人) we learn that his advice consisted mainly on supplying famous blades which served Kiyomaro as models and study objects. It is said that Sugane motivated Kiyomaro with the words: „Take as much time and raw material as you need and forge as long as you like until you are satisfied with the result.“

Another anecdote – which has surely nothing to do with the art of forging or metallurgy – is about how Kiyomaro was able to reproduce utsuri (映り). Utsuri (lit. „reflection“) is a more or less visible temper effect on a blade which appears above the hamon and which can reach the shinogi ridge (or even go beyond it). Not every blade shows utsuri and first and foremost it was a characteristic feature of Bizen blades from the Kamakura to the early Muromachi period. Successive smiths of the shintō era (新刀), i.e. from the Edo period onwards, had serious problems reproducing utsuri and the „secret technique“ had almost fallen into oblivion by the time of Kiyomaro. He went to great lengths, day and night, but without success. So he asked Sugane: „Master, I need your advice again. How am I able to reproduce utsuri?“ He told him of all the attempts he had tried so far until Sugane interrupted him: „That is actually the problem. You want it too much. Forge your blades without forging in mind, like the old Bizen masters did. Then you will be able to reproduce utsuri.“ And the anecdote says that his mentor was right and soon he was able to apply a controlled utsuri.

With the support of Sugane and his older brother – who, from the eighth to the tenth year of Tenpō (1837-1839), was in Edo too – Kiyomaro was eventually able around 1839 to go into business by himself. His forge, which was at close quarters from Iga-machi (伊賀町) in Edo´s Yotsuya district (四谷), was called according to transmission „Yamashiro´ya“ (山城屋). It is said that a certain dealer called „Bizen´ya Kihei“ (備前屋喜兵衛) made him the offer to pay his start-up capital if he arranged for Sugane to teach him martial arts. But the latter refused and instead paid the start-up sum. To advertise the up and coming Kiyomaro, and to earn some money, Sugane initiated in the same year a kind of „lottery“ called „Buki-kō“ (武器講). From total of 100 participants 3 ryō (両) were collected frome each one and once a month the finished blades were divided up among the drawn winners.

The very first Buki-kō blade is still extant. It is a katana measuring 71,2 cm, designated jūyō-bijutsuhin, bearing the following signature: „Yamaura Tamaki Masayuki – Tenpō jūnen hachigatsu-hi – Buki-kō ichihyaku no ichi“ (山浦環正行・天保十年八月日・武器講一百 之一, „a day in the eighth month of Tenpō ten [1839], one blade of one hundred of the Buki-kō“). Whilst Kiyomaro was working to capacity – he forged three to four blades a month – Sugane praised him in his „Tanki-yoron“ (鍛記余論), published in Tenpō twelve (1841), with the following words: „at the moment there is none who ranks above him.“ But something went wrong and Kiyomaro fled to Nagato province. This escape took place somewhere in the first half of the 13^th year of Tenpō (1842) because a dated blade of the eighth month of that years is extant which bears the supplement „Hagi-jō ni oite“ (於萩城, „at Hagi Castle“) in the mei. This means that in the summer of that year he was already working at the western end of Honshū (see picture 1). Sugane was of course facing a huge problem now because was becoming more and more behind with his Buki-kō.

Picture 1: katana, mei „Hagi-jō ni oite Yamaura Masayuki kore o tsukuru – Tenpō jūsannen hachigatsu-hi“ (於萩城山浦正行造之・天保十三年八月日, „made by Yamaura Masayuki in Hagi Castle on a day in the eighth month of Tenpō 13 [1843]“), nagasa 81,8 cm, sori 2,1 cm

There are several theories on Kiyomaro´s escape to Nagato. One says that he was just overstrained with the project and others assume that he was offended as an artist to mass produce blades. But there are also some voices which think that this was just a marketing trick of Sugane who tried to increase Kiyomaro´s market value by constructing a kind of „enfant terrible“ repute for his artist. Three ryō for a blade was then quite favourable. Suishinshi Masahide for example took 7 ½ ryō, Taikei Naotane 5 ryō, and Kiyomaro in his later years even took 10 ryō from a hatamoto for a katana. There are also different theories on this pricing. One was, as mentioned, that Sugane simply tried to boost the business. Another speculates that he tried to keep Kiyomaro tight so that he wasn´t able to waste all the money on drinking. Another possibility is that the whole thing was in the end just unprofitable for both of them and so the plan was born to sweep it under the carpet by the „escape“ of the smith.

A historical context is also assumed. At about the same time, the so-called „Tenpō Reform“ (Tenpō no kaikaku, 天保の改革) took place which goes largely back to the bakufu elder Mizuno Tadakuni (水野忠邦, 1794-1851). This radical reform tried to tackle all the defects in the economy, the army, agriculture and even religious institutions. The bakufu appealed to the warrior class to remind them of the old samurai virtue of bunbu-ryōdō (文武両道), i.e. the literary and military arts. This resulted in a higher demand for swords and higher prices. But when the bakufu was also confronted with the newly introduced celebrations and the acquisition of swords for presents and armours for parades and the like a decree was issued on the 27^th day of the third month of Tenpō 13 (1842) which set a fixed lower price for weapons and military equipment. As a countermeasure draconian penalties were threatened and so it is possible that Sugane feared that the works of his smith might remain unprofitable, even in the future, and so both made the plan of the escape before the financial situation became more than they could handle.

Because Kiyomaro also made in Nagato some blades for important local royalists, a royalist background for his escape is also assumed. For example, there are blades extant made on order of the painter, writer and emperor-sympathizer Hazama Seigai (礀西涯, 1811-1878) or of the agitator Tamura Seifū (田村清風) which nourish this assumption. But Nagato´s royalist boom took place when Kiyomaro was already long back in Edo or dead respectively. Anyway, the last blade he made in Nagato is a nagamaki from the 14^th year of Tenpō (1843). He didn´t return to the capital straightaway but visited his home village before. A blade from the eighth month of Tenpō 15 (1844) namely bears the following signature „Shin Komoro-jō sei Minamoto Masayuki“ (信小諸城製・ 源正行, „made by Minamoto Masayuki in Shin[ano´s] Komoro Castle“). The genealogy of the Yamaura family says that he stayed there until the twelfth month of that year. His older brother Masao was also in Komoro at that time and so we can assume that he stayed in his house and that both forged together. Incidentally, after the 15^th year of Tenpō, Masao worked more and more in the style of Kiyomaro. We can speculate that he was so impressed by his younger brother´s improvement at this meeting that he adopted his forging techniques. Shortly later, on the 29^th day of the third month of Kōka two (弘化, 1845), their father died and some months later Masao went to Edo where he worked from the residence of the Komoro fief. Kiyomaro accompanied him and did not return to his old forge. Some say that he went to Edo too to apologize to Sugane and that he had chosen to stay with Masao at the Komoro residence because he feared reprisals from the disappointed Buki-kō participants. From that time there exists a very carefully made sword that he made especially for Kubota Sugane (see picture 2). Maybe this was a kind of „compensation work“. It is, by the way, the earliest extant blade which bears his smith name „Kiyomaro“. Experts assume that this name goes back to a reverence for his friend the scholar Saitō Masamaro (斎藤昌麿, 1802-1866) – for whom he forged several blades – and Sugane (清音), as the first character (清) can be read, among others, as “Kiyo” and “Suga” in names.

Picture 2 jūyō-bijutsuhin, tachi, mei „Kubota Sugane-kun no tame – Yamaura Tamaki Minamoto Kiyomaro sei – Kōka hinoe-umadoshi hachigatsu-hi“ (為窪田清音君・山浦環源清麿製・ 弘化丙午年八月日, „made by Yamaura Tamaki Minamoto Kiyomaro for Kubota Sugane on a day in the eighth month of the year of the horse of the Kōka era [1846]“).

Kiyomaro committed suicide on the 14^th day of the eleventh month of Kaei seven (嘉永, 1854). Here, too, several theories and transmissions exist of which I would like to eleminate those which can be ruled out for historical reasons. One of them says that he sympathized with scattered survivors of the revolt of Ōshio Heihachirō (大塩平八郎, 1793-1837). So he fell under suspicion of the bakufu and killed himself out of fear of punishment. Ōshio was a low-ranking samurai, Neo-Confucianist and bitter opponent of the Tokugawa. He and his men were able to burn down almost one fifth of Ōsaka in 1837. But this was seven years before Kiyomaro´s suicide, which means he would have been interrogated and – if ever – punished by the bakufu much earlier. So we can dismiss this transmission that he killed himself out of fear of the bakufu troops.

Others assume that he was involved in Takasugi Shinsaku’s (高杉晋作, 1839-1867) arson of the British embassy in Edo´s Shinagawa district (品川). Shinsaku was indeed a militant royalist from Nagato but he set the building on fire in the second year of Bunkyū (文久, 1863), i.e. nine years after the death of Kiyomaro. A connection with Shinsaku can also be ruled out because the latter was only four years old when the swordsmith left Nagato.

Saitō Kiyondo´s son Eishirō (永四郎) forwarded a transmission which is connected with Dewa´s Shōnai fief (庄内藩). Shortly before the end of the Edo period the samurai of this fief were so worried that they constantly sharpened their blades in fear of an imminent seppuku. This lead to a kind of contest of who had the sharpest blade. The poorer samurai were jealous because they were not able to keep up with fancy swords but Kiyomaro had compassion for them and forged them durable and sharp blades for a cheap price. Of course they were no art swords and because this was a secret he had to leave them unsigned. One of the „customers“ was Kiyokawa Hachirō (清河八郎, 1830-1863, see picture 3), a very patriotic samurai, student of the old classics, and master of the Hakushin-Ittō-ryū (北辰一刀流) of swordsmanship. Kiyokawa was a sword lover too and was not very fond of having a „cutter“ so he asked Kiyomaro to forge him a slightly superior blade than for the others. In addition, he asked him to sign the tang at least with red lacquer so that his sword stood out from the others. Well, the efforts of Kiyomaro were not approved by the fief and so the bakufu ordered the then Shōnai-daimyō Sakai Tadayoshi (酒井忠良, 1831-1884) to take legal action. But Kiyomaro had luck because Kiyokawa was in Edo at that time and informed the smith of what was going on. Eishirō reported further that, from that day onwards, Kiyomaro always had a drawn blade by his side when he was working in his forge. According to this transmission, he was caught by a group of Shōnai retainers on the 14^th day of the eleventh month of Kaei seven (1854) whereupon he committed seppuku right on the spot.

Picture 3: Kiyokawa Hachirō

And the speculations continue. Some say that Kiyomaro´s seppuku was an apology to Sugane who had lost face when he ran away from the Buki-kō program. Rather puzzling is the fact that Kubota Sugane´s name does not appear in any of the documents of Kiyomaro´s student Saitō Kiyondo. This namely indicates that both did not have any more personal contact from the time Kiyomaro returned to Edo. That means the former „partners“ parted ways.

Let us now turn to the more likely explanations of his suicide. Yamaura Torao (山浦虎男), the grandson of Kanetora (兼虎, 1825-1895) – who was in turn the son of Masao – once wrote: „My grand-father didn´t like to talk about the death of Kiyomaro.“ But if Kiyomaro died as a faithful royalist or because of his royalist convictions, this would not have been kept quiet during the Meiji era and the stronger Imperial power. But as we have read, the sonnō-jōi movement was still in its infancy when Kiyomaro died so he would be one of the first who sacrificed himself for the matter. The adoptive daughter of Kurihara Nobuhide (栗原信秀, 1815-1867), one of the best students of Kiyomaro, said later that the master was suffering from chronic pain in his chest.

If you take the symptoms and think about the time Kiyomaro lived, then tuberculosis would be a possibility. But it is unknown if any tuberculosis patient had so much pain that he committed seppuku. And Nobuhide wrote that his master damaged his health by his excessive consumption of alcohol. Often he was unable to wield the hammer and when he received advance payments for blades, he spent it on sake. Two years before his death it was particularly bad when he suffered symptoms of paralysis like after a stroke. He was working on orders from Shinano´s Ueda fief (上田藩) back then and said: „I have a mountain of work and debt. Maybe it is better if I die…“ So it was said by Masao´s great-grandson Yamaura Kōji (山浦貢治). Nobuhide wrote that in the end his master cut open his belly on the lavatory in seppuku style on the 14^th day of the eleventh month of Kaei seven because he reached a point in life where he didn´t have a clue what to do. Kiyondo said later that he had to forge 30 blades just to pay off Kiyomaro’s debts which were 300 ryō in the form of advance payments for ordered swords.

Whilst compiling my two-volume set Index of Japanese Swordsmiths, I often came across the smith Kannai Norimune (関内徳宗) because he obviously trained a lot of local smiths. But information on him is quite sparse and thus I try to deal with him in more detail in this article. We know that his civilian name was „Kannai Kôzaemon“ (関内幸左衛門) and that he was born in Kansei seven (寛政, 1795) as son of Kannai Jihei Norimasa (関内治兵衛徳政) in the village of Yatsu (谷津) in the Ibaraki district (茨城郡) of Hitachi province which is just about 12 km to the northwest of Mito. Norimune eventually went to Mito, the capital of the fief of the same name, and entered an apprenticeship under the great local master Ichige Norichika (住毛徳鄰, 1777-1835). By the way, Norichika came originally from Hirakue (開江) which is exactly half way en route from Yatsu to Mito. Norichika was working for the Mito fief from Bunka six (文化, 1809) onwards. Norimune was actually a rather low-ranking smith working for the Mito fief since Tenpô twelve (天保, 1841), but he was able to get closer to the 9^th Mito-daimyô Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, 1800-1860) by assisting him in sword forging as the latter was a passionate swordsmith himself. But for the time being, he worked just as every other „run of the mill“ smiths fulfilling his orders from the fief and the local samurai.

Things changed considerably when Commodore Perry landed in Kaei six (嘉永, 1853) in Uraga. The bakufu had to react immediately and one of their numerous measures was to appoint their resolute relative Nariaki with coastal defence. Nariaki proposed a xenophobic policy and further presented the bakufu 74 cannons to defend Edo and one year later the Western-style sail warship Asahi-Maru (旭日丸) but which should not be finished until Ansei three (安政, 1856). One year before, i.e. in Ansei two (1855), the bakufu entrusted Nariaki also with a military reform. But Nariaki was not only involved in bakufu issues and had also to take care of his own fief. Soon he was openly opposed by the tairô Ii Naosuke (井伊直弼, 1815-1860) who was pro an opening of the country. All the signs were that war was coming and so Nariaki ordered the erection of a new arms and armour production centre on the eastern outskirts of Mito Castle. And this was the time of Kannai Norimune who was namely order to work from the new attached forge and train from there as many swordsmiths as possible. The Kannai family is in the possession of Norimune´s disciple records called „Kannai Norimune nyûmon-chô“ (関内徳宗入門帳) which features a lot of names, even famous ones like the 1^st generation Katsumura Norikatsu (勝村徳勝). Other students were for example Tani Masatsune (谷弥政常), Hida Masayoshi (肥田政好), Komatsu Morinori (小松盛徳), Muneshige (宗重), Yamamoto Nobuyoshi (山本信義), Sugiyama Noriie (杉山徳家), Norikane (徳包), Norikane (徳包), Koibuchi Norimitsu (鯉淵徳光), Kannai Norimitsu (関内徳光), his nephew Kannai Norisada (徳貞), Naitô Norishige (内藤徳重), Asano Noriyuki (浅野徳行), Takagi Shigegana (高木重長), Aibara Shigetsuna (相原重綱), Shimizu Terutaka (清水輝高), Ôhara Toshitsugu (大原利次) and Koyama Munetsugu´s second son Koyama Yoshitsugu (固山義次) who worked for the Kuwana fief (桑名藩). But he also had the honour to instruct Tokugawa Nariaki´s son Yoshiatsu (徳川慶篤, 1832-1868) who forged blades as a pastime whose smith and priest name was Junkô (順公). Norimune died on the fifth day of the fifth month Meiji six (明治, 1873) and was succeeded by his eldest son Norikane (徳兼, 1829-1903), civilian name „Kannai Asanosuke“ (関内朝之助) and later „Kannai Hikoshirô“ (関内彦四郎) who in turn had also refined his craft under Koyama Munetsugu (固山宗次).

Well, unfortunately not much works are going round of him and also most of the oshigata collections do not feature him. But a yari of Norimune can be seen here and an unsigned tantô attributed to him here.

This is the first time I post an article at the special request of a reader. I was namely asked to write a synopsis on the origins of Yagyû-tsuba or at least what we know about their origins today, so let´s get started right away. First of all it is essential to know that they go back to the famous swordsman Yagyû Ren´ya Toshikane (柳生連也厳包, 1625-1694) and thus we have to start to introduce him before we can start to talk about Yagyû-tsuba. Ren´ya was born in the second year of Kan´ei (寛永, 1625) as third son of Yagyû Toshiyoshi (柳生利厳, 1579-1650) and Tama (珠), the youngest daughter of Shima Sakon Kiyooki (島左近清興, 1540-1600). For whatever reason, he was raised by Hayashi Gorôdayû (林五郎太夫), the station master of Goyu (御油) in Mikawa province, and bore back then the name Hayashi Shinroku (林新六). Gorôdayû in turn was the husband of Toshiyoshi´s younger sister, which means Ren´ya was raised by his uncle. When he was nine or ten years old, he went to Nagoya whereas at that time he had returned to his mother´s maiden name calling himself Shima Shichirôbei (島七郎兵衛). There in Owari he was trained in the martial arts by his very own family, together with his two older half-brothers Kiyoyoshi (清厳, also reads as “Kiyotoshi”) and Toshikata (利方). It is said that he trained really hard and that he had distinguished himself already at the age of twelve or thirteen. When Ren´ya was 14, his eldest brother Kiyoyoshi died at the young age of 24 in the Shimabara Rebellion. Also at about that time, Toshikata became the official fencing instructor of Tokugawa Mitsutomo (徳川光友, 1625-1700), the future second daimyô of the Owari fief. It is said that Ren´ya kept training hard as he was anxious of being inferior in swordsmanship to his father. But it paid off, as he mastered his own style at the young age of 16, calling himself Yagyû Shichirôbei Heisuke (柳生七郎兵衛兵助). Two years later, i.e. in Kan´ei 19 (1642), the then Owari-daimyô Tokugawa Yoshinao (徳川義直, 1601-1650) gave him the post of a guard at audiences (o-tôri-ban, 御通番) when being in Edo in the course of the sankin-kôtai. During this post in Edo, Ren´ya was able to overcome some weakness in his swordsmanship, which preoccupied him for a long time. He was very pleased with that and won more than thirty fencing duels in the presence of Yoshinao without getting hit once. Later that year, he changed his name to Yagyû Shichirôbei Toshitomo (柳生七郎兵衛厳知), and in the subsequent year, his o-tôri-ban salary of 40 koku was raised by 30 koku. And in Shôhô four (正保, 1647) when he was 23 years old, he got another raise by 70 koku, meaning a total income of 140 koku at that time. In the following year, his father retired and he was appointed to the post of official fencing instructor of the Owari fief. One year later his father inaugurated him as fifth head of the Shinkage-ryû by writing at the end of the certificate: “This person [= Toshitomo] was the most outstanding among the students being taught so far in this school. This extraordinary praiseworthiness must be highly appreciated. The more, he is under obligation to show no negligence. The person described here is unequalled.”

Picture 1: Yagyû Ren´ya Toshikane

In Kei´an three (慶安, 1650), both Ren´ya´s father Toshiyoshi and his lord Tokugawa Yoshinao died. That means he inherited his father´s salary of 500 koku and the family residence and became a retainer of Tokugawa Mitsutomo who was of the same age. In the following year he fought in Edo at the presence of the shôgun a duel against Edo-Yagyû Munefuyu (宗冬, 1613?-1675). Munefuyu was smashed by Toshitomo with a single stroke of his bokutô and it is said that the Edo-Yagyû and the Owari-Yagyû branch broke ties since that time. In Kanbun eight (寛文, 1668) – Ren´ya/Toshitomo was 44 years old at that time – his salary was once again raised, namely to 600 koku. However, he expressed the wish to retire from his official post. Mitsutomo agreed, the salary was reduced to 200 koku, and a residence in Kobayashi (小林) right outside of Nagoya was granted to him. In the course of this early retirement, he changed his name from “Toshitomo” to “Toshikane” (厳包). Well, Toshitomo/Toshikane was neither ill nor weak at that time but wanted to focus somewhere off the family´s dôjô on the more spiritual aspects of swordsmanship not being busy with training students all day long. He had inaugurated Mitsutomo as sixth head of the Yagyû Shinkage school and later, i.e. in Enpô three (延宝, 1675), Mitsutomo´s son Tsunanari (徳川綱誠, 1652-1699) as seventh Shinkage-ryû master. Somewhat later, in the second year of Jôkyô (貞享, 1685), Toshikane entered priesthood and called himself  “Ura Ren´ya” (浦連也). “Ura” was quasi his new family name and “Ren´ya” his first name. And thus it should just read “Ren´ya” and not “Ren´yasai” (連也斎) as quoted by many authors. The latter name does not appear before the bakumatsu era and it is assumed that it goes back to a mistake of Imaizumi Gennai Nobuharu (今泉源内延春) who thought it is a nyûdô-gô and not a name and added the nyûdô-typical suffix “sai” (斎). Incidentally, Nobuharu was a close friend to the Yagyû family and compiled the „Yagyû-tsuba zufu“ (柳生鐔図譜) which is explained later. And as Ren´ya was back then on his path to attaining enlightenment, he was referred to as “oshô” (和尚, meaning “Buddhist priest”). According to Mitsutomo, the samurai of the Owari fief called him respectfully “Kobayashi-oshô” (小林和尚, i.e. “the priest from Kobayashi”). Ren´ya died on the eleventh day of the tenth month Genroku seven (元禄, 1694) at the age of 70. Five years after his death, the Kobayashi residence was pulled down and the Shôjô-ji (清浄寺) was erected there.

Now we come to Yagyû-tsuba. As mentioned in the beginning, they go back to Yagyû Ren´ya and that is why they were called “Yagyû-tsuba” later. But also the term “Kobayashi-tsuba” (小林鐔) existed which goes back to Ren´ya´s place of retirement. Everything started with his granted retirement and the name change to “Toshikane”. Extant documents suggest that he was concerned about tsuba from that time on and that he also experimented with yakite-kusarakashi, i.e. a certain surface finish applied by a combination of acids and heat treatment. In late Edo-period tsuba related publications like the „Kokon-kinkô-benran“ (古今金工便覧), published in Kôka four (弘化, 1847), we read that Ren´ya and others tested back then their tsuba by smashing them in a mortar. None of them met the expectations of the swordsman except those with ground plates made by Kotetsu Gozaemon (古鉄五左衛門) from the Akasaka district of Edo which namely did not change their shape. Thus Ren´ya entrusted him with forging the ground plates of 36 tsuba into which a certain Gotô (後藤) cut the sukashi motif designed by Kanô Tan´yû (狩野探幽, 1602-1674). Well, it is very likely that the Gotô craftsman in question was not from the bakufu-employed Gotô family of kinkô masters as opening sukashi into iron ground plates was not really their métier. But we find an interesting entry in the „Ishikawa-mekiki-densho“ (石河目利伝書) which says: „Gotô Shôbei Mitsuteru (後藤庄兵衛光輝), lived once in Mino but moved later to Edo. He received from Yagyû Ren´ya a stipend for the support of three persons and went from time to time to Owari to work from there.“ Gotô Shôbei and the Seto potter Yanosuke (弥之助) were those craftsmen directly stipended by Ren´ya as the latter developed also a liking for pottery in his later years. Ren´ya also made some bowls himself, probably under the guidance of Yanosuke. And the fittings of his Yagyû-koshirae go probably back to a joint work of Ren´ya and Gotô Shôbei. We know notes for examples which say that Shôbei made fuchi according to the liking of Ren´ya and so it suggests itself that it was Gotô Shôbei Mitsuteru who was reponsible for the carvings and sukashi openings of the initial Yagyû-tsuba. The transmission of Kanô Tan´yû as designer of the sukashi motifs is doubted. Already the scholar Inaba Michikuni (稲葉通邦, 1744-1801) who was from the Owari fief himself wrote in his „Yagyû-tsuba-kata zenzu” (柳生鐔形全図): „The design goes back to Hata Kuninari (秦国成) and not to Tan´yû as it is mostly believed.“ Hata Kuninari was a painter employed by the Owari fief. He was later allowed to bear the family name „Kanô“ as he became a student of Kanô Yasunobu (狩野安信, 1614-1685). There is also the theory that Kuninari was the same person as Kanô Tsunenobu (狩野常信, 1636-1713) as there are namely also tsuba sketches extant of the latter. Well, here we are obviously in the then world of common embellishments. That means sketches of a certain Kanô painter mentioned in a certain document quickly became designs of master Kanô Tan´yû in the next publication.

Picture 2: Yagyû-tsuba with the kazeho motif. It is said that the mind of the practitioner of the Yagyû-Shinkage-ryû should advance by assimilating the teachings of the school just as the ship advances through the strength of the billowing sail.

So in the course of this tsuba project initiated by Yagyû Ren´ya Toshikane, 36 designs were created. Later, these 36 tsuba were called „kasen-tsuba“ (歌仙鐔) because the number matches with the „Thirty-six Immortal Poets “ (Sanjûrôkkasen, 三十六歌仙) from the Nara, Asuka, and Heian periods. Several designs were added later to this pantheon of Ren´ya´s tsuba, even some by Tokugawa Mitsutomo himself like for example the so-called “kazeho” (風帆, lit. “billowing sail”) motif (see picture 2). And by the Meiji period, the total number of Yagyû-tsuba motifs had arrived at more than 120. However, Yagyû-tsuba were not that famous at all back then and brushed rather aside as “something mid Edo from the lineage of Owari and Kanayama-tsuba”. Only slowly their historic value was recognized and it took until Sasano Masayuki (笹野大行) until Yagyû-tsuba were also appreciated for their artistic value. But from that on, they experienced a great demand, also from outside of Japan, as it is of course very attractive to own tsuba so obviously connected to swordsmanship in particular and martial arts in general. Anyway, there are only very few of the initial 36 kasen-tsuba extant but as the enjoyed a certain popularity right away, copies and hommages were made throughout the Edo and until the bakumatsu era. The Yagyû family called the 36 initial kasen-tsuba of Ren´ya either „Kobayashi-tsuba“, „ie no tsuba“ (家の鐔, lit. „our family tsuba“) or „Ren´ya-shikomi“ (連也仕込み, about „Ren´ya´s stock tsuba“). The later copies made around Hôreki (宝暦, 1751-1764) were referred to as go-ryûgi-tsuba (御流儀鐔), i.e. about „tsuba in the style of the Yagyû school“. Today these works are also called „second generation Yagyû-tsuba“. Towards the end of the Edo period, even more Yagyû-tsuba or Yagyû-style tsuba were made and they in turn are referred to as „third generation“ Yagyû-tsuba. The term „Yagyû-tsuba“ by the way appears for the first time in Inaba Michitatsu´s (稲葉通龍, 1736-1786) „Sôken-kishô“ (装剣奇賞) published in Tenmei one (天明, 1781).

Picture 3: mitsuboshi-sankaku no zu tsuba (三星三角図鐔, three stars in a triangle)

The tsuba shown above is probably one of the most representative of the 36 kasen-tsuba. Some say the motif represents the so-called „Three Basic Studies“ (sangaku, 三学) of Buddhism which are kaigaku (戒学, precepts), jôgaku (定学, contemplation and meditation), and eigaku (慧学, wisdom). But in Ren´ya´s teachings we find also the term „sanma no kurai“ (三磨の位), the „Three Ways of Learning“, which are narai (習い, learning), keiko (稽古, training), and kufû (工夫, to work actively on what you have learned and trained). According to Ren´ya, these three elements are essential when you want to make any progress in swordsmanship. Others in turn suggest that the mitsuboshi-sankaku motif stands for the so-called „sangaku´en no tachi“ (三学円之太刀), a group of sword kata of the Yagyû-Shinkage-ryû. And Yagyû Toshinaga (柳生厳長), the 20^th head of the Yagyû-Shinkage-ryû, speaks in his „Shôden-Shinkage-ryû“ (正伝新陰流) of the mind/heart, the sword, and the body, embedded into a circle, which in turn stands for the desired ability to change techniques at will and to flow smoothly from one movement to another (as described in another context by Karl. F. Friday in his book Legacies of the Sword, p. 74, University of Hawai´i Press, 1997). Well, we can imagine that the mitsuboshi-sankaku motif comprises all of this. But the philosophical aspects of Yagyû-tsuba is another topic as I was asked to shed some light on the historical aspects of their origin. And in this sense I hope this article was of general interest.

And here the genealogy of the Owari and Edo-Yagyû branch as a reference:

YagyuGenealogy

In between and as a reference, I have compiled a list of all honorary titles (no claim to completeness) used by swordsmiths.

SwordsmithHonoraryTitles_V1

For those of you seeking more references (and until my next Kantei supplement is finished), I have uploaded a translation to Lulu I have done a while ago. It is the 1967 published JUKKEN which most of you probably know. It is a full translation, that means with all the oshigata. It features about 130 fine blades, one of it is designated kokuho, seven juyo-bunkazai and twelve juyo-bijutsuhin.

142 pages, paperback, b/w, A4, $55.00 (+ $10.00 flat shipping rate)

This is not going to be made public and is meant as personal study reference so everyone who wants a copy, please contact me via “markus.sesko@gmail.com”. I would suggest payments via PayPal but bank transfer is of course also possible. After an order is received, I will have a copy print and sent from Lulu directly to the buyer.

The eBook can be downloaded here:

Preview

Contents

Sadaichi was born on 8 November 1907 in Ôsaka into the young but already established lineage of the revived Gassan school. His civilian first name was „Noboru“ (昇). The Gassan reviver was his great-grandfather Sadayoshi (月山貞吉, 1800?-1870) who had studied under the famous shinshintô smith and reviver of old traditions himself, Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀). In the fourth year of Tenpô (天保, 1833) Sadayoshi had moved to Ôsaka where he founded his own school, namely as mentioned with reviving the Gassan school from which he derived. Incidentally, the Gassan school became extinct in the late kotô period and the first later descendant who reappears in the records is Sadayoshi´s father Sadachika (貞近, 1771-1851) who lived in Sasagawa (笹川) in the Nishimurayama district (西村山郡) of Dewa province, i.e. just right where his kotô ancestors were active. However, Sadachika´s family name was not yet „Gassan“ but „Okuyama“ (奥山). It was namely Sadayoshi who adopted it as family name for his lineage. Both Sadaichi´s father and grandfather, Sadakatsu (月山貞勝, 1869-1943) and Sadakazu (月山貞一, 1836-1918) respectively, were noted swordsmiths.

Picture 1: Gassan Sadaichi

Sadaichi started his training as swordsmith when his grandfather Sadakazu died. He was then eleven years old and his father Sadakatsu introduced him not only into the Gassan, but also into the gokaden techniques. First he signed with the „Sadamitsu“ (貞光) and a sword with that mei was accepted (nyûsen) for an exhibition of the Ôsaka Art Association (Ôsaka Bijutsu Kyôkai, 大阪美術協会). In 1927, he and his father got a special order from Ise´s Shrine Bureau (Jingû-jichô, 神宮司庁), affiliated with the prewar Ministry of Home Affairs (Naimushô, 内務省), to forge in the following three years 68 tachi and 43 hoko to be offered to the Ise Shrine at the 58^th Rebuilding Ceremony in 1933. In between, more precisely in 1929, he and his father forged Emperor Shôwa a so-called „daigenshi-tô“ (大元師刀), the sword for him in his function as supreme commander of army and navy. Pictures of some genshi-tô (元師刀, „marshal swords“) can be found here. Ten years later in 1939, he forged a tachi to support the 700^th anniversary of Emperor Gotoba´s death. There was an association founded for this anniversary which held also a sword exhibition. Sadaichi, back then still under the name „Sadamitsu“, was one of 25 smiths to contribute to this exhibition. An oshigata of this blade is seen in picture 2.

Picture 2: tachi, mei: „Shinzen – Gotoba-tennô shichihyakunen-sai-hôsan shinsakutô-hônôkai „ (神前・後鳥羽天皇七百年祭奉賛新作刀奉納会) – „Shôwa jûyonnen sangatsu-kichijutsu – Gassan Sadamitsu kinsaku“ (昭和十四年三月吉日・月山貞光謹作)

In 1943, Sadaichi was 36 years old, the family and school moved from Ôsaka to the city of Kashihawa (橿原) in Nara Prefecture where they erected the Gassan Nihontô Tanren Dôjô (月山日本刀鍛錬道場). Shortly later his father died, namely on 24 December 1943. Sadaichi took over the family and became also responsible for the guntô forge affiliated to the Ôsaka Army Arsenal (Ôsaka Rikugun Zôheishô, 大阪陸軍造兵廠). When the war ended two years later, he faced the same difficulties as his colleagues namely that for the time being, sword forging as prohibited. He was 38 years old and just in the prime of his life. The following year his third son Kiyoshi (清), the later Gassan Sadatoshi (月山貞利) was born. Things changed and started to improve with the foundation of the NBTHK in 1948. Only one year later namely he was already able to contribute four tachi to the next Ise Shrine Rebuilding Ceremony to be held in 1953. However, he received his now obligatory official licence as a swordsmith, issued by the Committee for the Protection of Historical Buildings and Monuments (Bunkazai Hogo Iinkai, 文化財保護委員会) in 1954 when he was 47 years old. Two years later he changed his smith name from „Sadamitsu“ to „Takateru“ (貴照).

1965 was another important year for Sadaichi and the Gassan school. It was namely when he opened the new Gassan Nihontô Tanren Dôjô in 228.8 Chiwara (茅原) in the city of Sakurai (桜井) in Nara Prefecture, zip code 633-0073. It is only about 8 km to the northeast of Kashihara and lies in idyllic setting at the foot of Mt. Miwa. You can find pictures of the forge at the official Gassan site here. If you are in the region, don´t miss to visit the dôjô and its Gassan Kinen Kan (月山記念館) museum. In the same year he took the name „Sadaichi“, in a ceremony at the close Ômiwa-jinja (大神神社) to which he also presented a tachi in this course. Important for Sadaichi was the 3^rd Shinsaku Meitôten, the sword forging competition held in 1967 by the NBTHK, in the course of which he received both the Masamune Award and the Bunkachô Chairman´s Award for his copy of the famous spear Nihongô (日本号). He was already 60 years old at that time. In 1969 he made another copy, this time of the ancient so-called „Heishishôrin-ken“ (丙子椒林剣) which was intended to be a temple treasure of the Shingon sect Chikurin-ji (竹林寺) of Kôchi Prefecture.

Another important year for Sadaichi was 1970. He had received by then successively the highest prize of the sword forging competion, i.e. three times since 1967. For this he was rewarded with the rank of mukansa and Intangible Cultural Property of Nara Prefecture. Apart from that he became a juror for the sword forging competition and forged another tachi for the next Ise Shrine Rebuilding Ceremony to be held in 1973. Only one year later, in April 1971 and at the age of 64, he finally received the status of ningen-kokuhô, an honour which was accompanied by an exhibition of its own at the Mitsukoshi department store of Kobe. One year later the Yomiuri Shimbun held their „Kyoshô-ten“ (巨匠展), the „Maestro Exhibition“ featuring exhibits by artists decorated with the Order of Culture, members of the Japan Art Academy, and ningen-kokuhô. Sadaichi was of course qualified and selected for this exhibition. In 1973 he held his own exhibition called „Nihontô ni ikiru“ (日本刀に生きる) and an exhibition just for him was held at the Matsuzaka department store in Ueno, Tôkyô. In the same year he received the Medal of Honor on the Purple Ribbon (Shiju-hôshô, 紫綬褒章), awarded by the Japanese government to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work.

In 1976 it was again time to make another copy of the aforementioned Heishishôrin-ken, namely together with another famous ancient sword of the Shitennô-ji (四天王寺) in Ôsaka, the so-called „Shichisei-ken“ (七星剣). The copies were meant as offerings for the same shrine. In the same year the monument honouring the Gassan smiths on the grounds of the Yachi-Hachimangû (谷地八幡宮) in Yamagata Prefecture, i.e. at the birthplace of the school, was finished. Sadaichi forged for the ceremony together with his son Sadatoshi a tachi in front of the shrine. In 1978 he became chairman of the Zen Nihon Tôshôkai (全日本刀匠会), the swordsmith association of Japan, replacing Miyairi Yukihira (宮入行平). One year later the Marukatsu department store of Hokkaidô´s city of Asahigawa held another Gassan Sadaichi exhibition and he received the Order of the Rising Sun 4^th class (kyokujitsu-shōjushō, 旭日小綬章). In 1980 Prince Takamatsu (高松宮宣仁親王, 1905-1987) visited his forge in Sakurai and he participated in the „Nihon no kyoshô-ten“ (日本の巨匠展, „Japanese Masters“) exhibition held by the Takashimaya department store for their 150^th anniversary. The next year the Matsuzaka department store of Yamagata city held another Gassan Sadaichi exhibition and just one year later he participated in the „Ningen Kokuhô“ exhibition of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where he was invited to set up a forge and create a sword for the exhibition. Another Gassan Sadaichi exhibition was then held in 1983 at the Ôsaka Shinsaibashi branch of the Daimaru department store, whereat the latter initiated another one just one year later for Sadaichi´s 77^th birthday. In 1984 he forged again five tachi for the next Ise Shrine Rebuilding Ceremony to be held in 1993. The following year, Sadaichi offered a sword to the Gassan-jinja (月山神社) where the school once originated. 1986 he became managing director of the NBTHK and advisor for the Zen Toshô Kai. In 1988 he went once more to Boston, namely for the Gassan exhibition held again by the Museum of Fine Arts. Two years later the art gallery of the Takashimaya department store Tôkyô held an exhibition for father and son Sadaichi and Sadatoshi. In the same year he forged a mamorigatana for Princess Akishino and a tachi on the occasion of the coronation of Emperor Akihito. In 1994 he forged a tachi for the 65^th Sumo yokozuna Takanohana (貴乃花) and the art gallery of the Shinsaibashi branch of the Daimaru department store held the „Ningen-kokuhô Gassan Sadaichi and his School“ exhibition, one of the last big events in his life. He died in the following year, on 1 April 1995 at the age of 87.

Some years ago, or to be more precise, early in 2010, I read Oura Sôgorô´s (小浦宗五郎) article on a hira-zukuri wakizashi blade of Kaga Ietsugu (加賀家次) – probably by the Kôji-era (弘治, 1555-1558) Ietsugu – which bears a very interesting kinzôgan-mei (pictures 1 and 2). This kinzôgan-mei reads „Toya-ire – Masashige + kaô“ (鳥屋入・政重). Toya-ire, also called „toya-gomori“ (鳥屋籠) or „toya-bumi“ (鳥屋踏) are special bird houses similar to chicken coops (the toya, 鳥屋) where the hawks retreat towards the end of summer to moult. The inlayed name „Masashige“ refers to Honda Masashige (本多政重, 1580-1647) and can be confirmed by comparison to another blade from his possessions, namely the Kanemitsu katana (兼光) with the kinzôgan-mei „Honda Awa no Kami shoji kore – Masashige + kaô“ (本多安房守所持之・政重, lit. „from the possession of Honda Awa no Kami Masashige“). And with this blade (it can be seen at the bottom of this link), we are right at why this article was of special interest for me. The Kanemitsu is an important heirloom of the Honda family and preserved in the Hanrô Honda Zôhinkan (藩老本多蔵品館), a small but very fine museum in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Over a couple of years, I spent some months in that area and visited the museum a few times, admiring the highly interesting objects. At my very last visit, I met there the present-day head of the Honda family, Honda Masamitsu (本多政光), and after a quick chat in the course of which I told him from my special interest in swords, he invited me to come back when his schedule allows to see the Kanemitsu hands on. How sad it was that I was leaving Japan at that time! But let´s get back to the topic.

Picture 1: oshigata of the wakizashi, mei „Ietsugu“, kinzôgan-mei „Toya-ire – Masashige + kaô“, nagasa 37,3 cm, sori 0,3 cm, some more pictures of the blade can be found here

Picture 2: picture of the tang with the kinzôgan-mei

The question is, why has Honda Masashige „moulting hut“ inlayed in gold on one of his blades? The aforementioned Oura does not provide a definite answer but a very comprehensive approach. For this approach, we have to go further and take a closer look at Honda Masashige´s life. Masashige was born in the eight year of Tenshô (天正, 1580) as second son of Honda Masanobu (本多正信, 1538-1616) who was a retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu and who held at that time the Tamanawa fief (玉縄藩) in Sagami province with an annual income of 10.000 koku. When Masashige was twelve years old, he was adopted by another Tokugawa-retainer, namely by Kurahashi Chô´emon (倉橋長右衛門). With this adoption, he got the name „Kurahashi Chôgorô“ (倉橋長五郎). Two years later, at the age of 14, he also entered the services of the Tokugawa family. Some say he served Ieyasu but extant documents show that his employer and lord was actually Ieyasu´s son Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632). Well, in Keichô two (慶長, 1597) – he was (according to the Japanese way of counting years) 18 years old – he killed in a quarrel Okabe Shôhachi (岡部庄八), the son of Hidetada´s nurse Ôuba no Tsubone (大姥局, 1525-1613). Thereupon he fled Edo in the very same night and hid in Yamada (山田) in Ise province for about half a year. During that flight he had his genpuku ceremony and bore henceforth the name „Masaki Sahyôe“ (正木左兵衛). But in Keichô four (1599) he was able to become a retainer of the Toyotomi-retainer Ôtani Yoshitsugu (大谷吉継, 1558-1600). In the same year he was in turn employed by another Toyotomi-retainer, namely by Ukita Hideie (宇喜多秀家, 1572-1655), who granted him lands with an income of 20.000 koku. So he fought eventually at the side of Hideie against the his old lords the Tokugawa at Sekigahara. However, he was back then still treated as son of the faithful Tokugawa-retainer Honda Masanobu and was therefore able to get off scot-free. After a short service under Fukushima Masanori (福島正則, 1561-1624), he entered the service of Maeda Toshinaga (前田利長, 1562-1614) and moved to Kaga with an income of 30.000 koku.

Picture 3: Portrait of Honda Masashige whereat the poem is written by himself. This painting is also preserved in the Hanrô Honda Zôhinkan. The kaô is similar to the kinzôga-kaô but as the latter is an inlay on a sword tang, it is of coure not 100% identical with the handwritten one.

Only one year later, i.e. in Keichô nine (1604), Masashige – back then still under the name „Masaki Sahyôe“ – married Omatsu (於松), the daughter of Naoe Kanetsugu (直江兼続, 1560-1619) and was thereupon adopted by the latter and took the name „Naoe Katsuyoshi“ (直江勝吉). He received the character for „Katsu“ from Kanetsugu´s lord Uesugi Kagekatsu (上杉景勝, 1556-1623) who had already planned that Omatsus son should become his heir. But when shortly later, i.e. in the fifth month of Keichô nine his own son Sadakatsu (上杉定勝, 1604-1645) was born, Omatsu´s and Masashige´s or rather Katsuyoshi´s future son was right out of the question. As a result, he returned to his original family name and was called since that time „Honda Masashige“. And some years later and by recommendation of his Ise acquaintance Tôdô Takatora (藤堂高虎, 1556-1630), he again returned in Keichô 16 (1611) – some sources say it was in Keichô 17 (1612) – into the service of the Maeda, namely of Toshinaga´s half-brother and adopted heir Toshitsune (前田利常, 1594-1658).

One of Masashige´s greatest accomplishments for his repeated lords the Maeda was his negotiation with the bakufu when there was a dispute on who should receive the Niikawa district (新川郡) of the neighbouring Etchû province worth 190.000 koku, i.e. either Tokugawa Hidetada or Maeda Toshitsune. Hidetada feared that the already wealthy Kaga fief gets too powerful. But with the support of his father Masanobu and his older brother Masazumi (本多正純, 1565-1637), Masashige was able to decide this in favour of the Maeda which offered him an increase of his salary by 50.000 koku. This would have earned him the incredible income of 100.000 koku but he refused according to transmission and took instead a personal gift, a famous and precious Momoyama-period jar called „Murasame no tsubo“ (村雨の壷) which came from the possessions of Hideyoshi. Because of this decline of the 50.000 koku salary increase, the jar got the nickname „Gomankoku no tsubo“ (五万石の壷, „the 50.000 koku jar“, picture 4).

Picture 4: The Murasame no tsubo (preserved in the Hanrô Honda Zôhinkan). Please apologize the blurry picture and the reflection of my camera.

On now we come once again back to the kinzôgan inscription in question. Oura namely found an incident recorded in the „Honda Awa no Kami Masashige shoseki-basshô“ (本多安房守政重事蹟抜抄) which reports from a meeting with Maeda Toshitsune. The latter had already retired (his year of retirement was Kan´ei 16 [寛永, 1639]) and invited Masashige once summer to his tea house in Komatsu (小松) which is about 25 km to the southwest of Kanazawa. There, Masashige saw a furosaki-byôbu (風呂先屏風) – a special smaller screen used in tea rooms – which showed paintings of the famous master Kanô Tan´yû (狩野探幽, 1602-1674). The motif were flocks of wild geese (karigane), wild ducks and mandarin ducks flying across the tips of pines. According to the aforementioned record, Masashige was deeply moved and liked the screen a lot and the servants asked why he had such a special interest in this item. Masashige responded that he has to reply in the form of an old poem which goes: „Karigane no koshiji no michi no tôkereba, hane o yasumen to Yonejima no matsu“ (雁が音の越路の道の遠ければ羽をやすめんと米島の松), about „The wild geese flew a long distance along the Koshiji (an old name of the northern Hokurikudô) but is now able to rest its wings at the pines of Yonejima“. Well, Masashige actually recited the poem from the „Nijûichidai-shû“ (二十一代集) anthology wrong but that doesn´t matter here. Important for the understanding of the kinzôgan-mei is that he compared himself with a bird, a wild geese, finally arriving at Yonejima, a flowery description of a peaceful place with enough food and drink. In short, Yonejima refers to his then and again „employer“, the rich Kaga fief. So by seeing this screen Masashige, then 60 years old, recapitulated his own eventful life so far and realized that now he had found his final place to stay at the Maeda which accepted him once more as retainer. So Oura sees the nickname „moulting hut“ of the blade in the context of this comparison of Masashige himself with a wild geese and his then stage of life. I.e. he regarded the Kaga fief as safe place to moult. By the way, he was 32 years old when he was hired by the Maeda the second time.

So we have here just a three-character nickname inlayed on a small but fine wakizashi but which unfolds a comprehensive insight into the entire life of the blade´s owner. This is very fascinating and shows us how profound kinzôgan-mei can be.

I give you notice that it´s time for a short summer break. I am still around and work on other projects but my holiday starts towards the end of next week and on this occasion I will pause this blog from today until our return around mid July. In the meantime I wish all readers pleasant summer days and I will be back with more interesting articles in a couple of weeks. Many thanks for your attention!

This time I would like to introduce another Masamune whose attribution is dubious, namely the meibutsu „Kotegiri-Masamune“ (籠手切正宗, lit. „kote cutter Masamune“). Today the sword is in the imperial collection since it was presented by the Maeda family (前田) to emperor Meiji in 1882 but preserved in the Tôkyô National Museum. The sword came into the possession of the Maeda at the time of the 2^nd Kaga-daimyô Maeda Toshitsune (前田利常, 1594-1658). It is said that back than it already bore the Masamune appraisal by the 8^th Hon´ami mainline-generation Kôsatsu (本阿弥光刹, 1518-1581). But we can assume that the origami on Masamune was issued either shortly before the death of Kôsatsu or by another Hon´ami member. Because when Kôsatsu died in Tenshô nine (天正, 1581), Sano Nobuyoshi (佐野信吉, 1566-1622), the previous owner of the Kotegiri-Masamune, was only 15 years old. Nobuyoshi was the daimyô of the Sano fief (佐野藩) located in Shimotsuke province and when he owned the blade, it bore an attributed to Masamune´s supposed father Yukimitsu and was therefore called „Sano-Yukimitsu“ (佐野行光). I assume that the sword came into the possession of the Maeda family after Nobuyoshi´s death and that it was in this course that Toshitsune „had“ a later Hon´ami member than Kôsatsu issuing an origami to Masamune.

Before Nobuyoshi, the sword was treasured by Ôtsu Denjûrô Nagamasa (大津伝十郎長昌, ?-1579). Denjûrô in turn received it as a gift from Oda Nobunaga of whom he was a page and close retainer since Eiroku eleven (永禄, 1568). At that time he was responsible for the issuing of important tax documents but was appointed to the post of inspector ten years later in the course of the attack of Kanki Castle (神吉城) in Harima province in Tenshô six (1578). Right afterwards he was entrusted with a guarding post of Takatsuki Castle (高槻城) in Settsu province which was held back then by father and son Takayama Tomoteru (高山友照, ?-1595) and Takayama Ukon (高山右近, 1552-1615). However, Denjûrô died of an illness in Tenshô seven (1579).

The present-day condition of the blade goes back to the time of Nobunaga and Ôtsu Denjûrô as does its signature which reads: „Asakura Kotegiri-tachi nari – Tenshô sannen jûnigatsu – Ubakka suriage – Ôtsu Denjûrô hairyô“ (朝倉篭手切太刀也・天正三年十二月・右幕下御摺上・大津伝十郎拝領, „this Kotegiri-tachi from the Asakura [family] was shortened by Oda Nobunaga in the twelfth month of Tenshô three [1575] and presented to Ôtsu Denjûrô“). Please note that the character „ko“ in the nickname „Kotegiri“ (籠手切) is written on the tang with the character (篭). „Ubakka“ is an abbreviation of the title of „Ukon´e no daishô“ (右近衛大将), a title given to Nobunaga in the eleventh month of Tenshô three (1575), that means one month before the inscription was chiselled onto the bew tang. According to the records, the blade was before an ôdachi measuring 3 shaku 2 sun (~ 97,5 cm). Since the ô-suriage it measures 2 shaku 2 sun 6 bu 5 ri (~ 68,6 cm).

Picture 1: oshigata of the Kotegiri-Masamune

From the mei we also learn that the sword came from the Asakura family of Echizen province and was already nicknamed by them „Kotegiri“. Well, in the Kusakabe genealogy („Kusakabe-keizu“, 日下部系図) – the Asakura were descendants of the Kusakabe – we read that Asakura Ujikage (朝倉氏景, 1339-1405) wore a tachi of Sadamune (貞宗) when he was departing for the front on the 15^th day of the second month Bunna four (文和, 1355) for fighting at Kyôto´s Tôji (東寺). Ujikage was, according to the Japanese way of counting, 17 years at that time and it is said that he severed with the blade the arm of an enemy right at his yugake glove (鞲). The genealogy also mentions that Ujikage had thereupon the nickname „Yugakegiri“ (鞲切) chiselled onto the tang of the ôdachi. Oda Nobunaga captured the sword when he defeated Ujikage´s descendant Asakura Yoshikage (朝倉義景, 1533-1573) and destroyed the Asakura clan. So when Nobunaga had the blade shortened by about 30 cm, the entire original tang and thus a possible mei of Sadamune and the inscription of the nickname „Yugakegiri“ were of course lost. It is assumed that the new nickname „Kotegiri“ was chosen in the course of the shortening, i.e. in this very case as a contracted version of „yugote“ (弓籠手) which in turn is another term for „yugake“.

Picture 2: The entry from the Kusakabe genealogy concerning Ujikage (from a 1910 reprint). The mention of the name „Sadamune“ is highlighted in red.

By the time Ujikage wore the sword at one of his earliest battles, only about three decades have passed since the height of Masamune´s, and about two decades after the height of Sadamune´s active period. That means back then, Masamune was surely a master smith but there was not that hype around him as it was towards the end of the Momoyama period. And even by the time of Sano Yoshinobu the name „Masamune“ was quasi out of question. It took until the Edo period and the time of Maeda Toshitsune until Masamune came into play. Well, based on gut feeling and the oversized nanbokuchôesque sugata with the wide mihaba and the ô-kissaki I would first of all rule out Yukimitsu but also Masamune. So Sadamune might be the man but of course I am far away from making such a judgment from my computer never having the blade in hand 😉

Picture 3: Kotegiri-Masamune