HIZEN TADAYOSHI SCHOOL MAINLINE
Swordsmith list:
1st "MUSASHI DAIJO" TADAYOSHI (Tadahiro 2nd gen father)
(1572 - 15 Aug 1632)
"KAWACHI DAIJO" MASAHIRO
(1607 - 5 Feb 1665)
"TOSA no KAMI" TADAYOSHI
(? Circa 1634)
2nd "OMI DAIJO" TADAHIRO (This is the famous swordsmith from the previous page)
(1614 - 27 May 1693)
3rd "MUTSU no KAMI" TADAYOSHI
(1636 - 2 Jan 1686)
4th "OMI DAIJO " TADAYOSHI
(1667 - 5 Sep 1747)
5th "OMI no KAMI" TADAYOSHI
(1696 - 15 Jun 1775)
6th "OMI no KAMI" TADAYOSHI
(1736 - 6 Dec 1815)
7th (Tadasaemonjo Tadahiro) TADAHIRO
(1770 - 28 Feb 1816)
8th (Shinsaemonjo) TADAYOSHI
(1801 - 26 May 1859)
9th (Hyakutaro) TADAYOSHI
(1832 - 27 Dec 1880)
[Last Tadayoshi sword smith stopped work in 1871]
SHODAI TADAYOSHI – 1st Gen TADAYOSHI
Signatures and years beginning of its use:
From year 1600:
TADAYOSHI
HIZEN KUNI TADAYOSHI
HIZEN KUNI TADAYOSHI SAKU
KYUSHU HIZEN KUNI TADAYOSHI
HIZEN KUNI JU MINAMOTO TADAYOSHI SAKU
From year 1615:
HI TADAYOSHI
TADAYOSHI SAKU
HISHU JU TADAYOSHI
HIZEN KUNI JU TADAYOSHI
HIZEN KUNI JUNIN TADAYOSHI SAKU
TADAYOSHI UMETADA MYOJU (no) DESHI
18 Feb 1624:
TADAHIRO
MUSASHI DAIJO FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
HIZEN KUNI JU MUSASHI DAIJO FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
Aug 1630:
HIZEN KUNI JU FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
Born: 1572 in Takagise, Saga, Hizen
Died: 15 August 1632 (aged 61)
Name: Hashimoto Shinsaemonjo Tadayoshi. [Musashi Daijo]
Father: Hashimoto Michihiro
Hashimoto Shinsaemonjo was born in Takagise-Cho, Saga, Hizen in 1572 to Hashimoto Michihiro [Iki (no) Kami Michihiro], the son of Kuranojo Morihiro. Both his father and grandfather served the Ryuzoji Takanobu family, then Daimyo of Saga. His grandfather died in the battle of Shimabara (not to be confused with the Shimabara revolt of 1637) in Higo Province in Mar 1584 where Takanobu (1529-1584) also died at the hands of the Shimazu of Satsuma. Both his father and mother died later that year of an leaving the 13-year-old Shinsaemon an orphan. Iwata Takashi (NBTHK) says that Shinsaemon then went to a neighbouring village of Nagase-Mura to study sword smithing with a relative. It is thought that this relative was Iyo (no) Jo Munetsugu (1584-1633), and it is interesting to note that Munetsugu's house was also on the old Nagasaki Highway in what was once Nagase-Mura and within yards of where the Tadayoshi forge was originally set up. Suiken Fukunaga also says that early in his career Tadayoshi went to the neighbouring Province of Higo to become an apprentice of the Dotakuni School. This School was a later offshoot of the Enju School, and was renowned for producing battle worthy swords favoured by Kato Kiyomasa in his Korean campaigns.
Around this time, foreign trade through Nagasaki was in decline, but Lord Nabeshima Naoshige, ruler of Hizen, was establishing a developing business empire in the thriving City of Saga, so in 1596 he sent the 25 year old Shinsaemon to study under Umetada Myoju in Kyoto. Umetada was an established and respected swordsmith who became the founder of the Shinto sword. Accompanying Shinsaemon was his cousin, Munenaga (who later became one of Hizen's best horimonoshi), and whilst in Kyoto he met a priest called Shuho. Shinsaemon was given the name 'Tada' by Umetada, and after 3 years of study in the year 1598, he graduated and returned to his new home of Nagase-Mura. On his return Nabeshima Naoshige gave him a stipend of some 25 koku and a full block of property known as the Nagase-Machi area just West of Saga castle town. Here he gathered all the Nagase-Mura swordsmiths together and set up the Hizento Kaji under the name Tadayoshi. The Hashimoto family at this time numbered 16, and they had up to a further 60 deshi.
SHODAI TADAHIRO MEI PERIOD - 1st Gen Tadayoshi
After he returned to Saga, the Shodai's health deteriorated so much that he was unable to work, and he relied heavily on Yoshinobu, Tosa (no) Kami and Masahiro for help (although Masahiro would only have been 18 years old). Midareba becomes more used and he developed the konuka-type of ji-gane. The Midareba is said to be the deshi way of signing his swords. His yasurime also became perfectly straight across about 1624, and in fact his whole style changed so markedly that many leading scholars believed until recently that Tadayoshi 1st and Tadahiro 1st were different smiths. The sword making business was now in its prime and I suspect that his illness could not interfere with sword production. There are far more "Hizen Kuni Musashi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro" mei blades than one man could ever make, so there must have been many dai-saku and dai-mei at this time. Although some references state that he could now read and write, even when he was healthy enough to work it would still have been a great honour for a student to make and sign a blade for the master. One problem, which has led to many arguments amongst sword scholars, is that the Shodai varied his mei almost from day to day, sometimes chiseling strokes 'left to right', sometimes the reverse, sometimes heavy strokes etc. Fujishiro argues that if he had used a regular professional carver, then surely the strokes would have been consistent. I believe that he used his senior students to sign hence the acute variations. We know that he used Masahiro to sign for him, and there is a possible Yoshinobu dai-mei on page 92. Although I have only ever seen one such acclaimed oshigata in Fujishiro's work, the Japanese textbooks regularly mention Yoshinobu as a signatory.
When Tadayoshi 1st changed his Mei to Tadahiro, the Lord of the fief reportedly gave a smith called Sadenjiro Masanaga (the son of Tadayoshi's son in law Yoshinobu, and who later became known as Masahiro) the title 'Tadayoshi'. The year was 1624, and he "took the Tadayoshi name" and reportedly made a sword with the same name. This blade was so good that the Lord told him he should sign his own name and he changed his art name to Masahiro (Shodai Masahiro). He continued to work very closely with the Tadayoshi school even teaching Tadahiro 2nd. There are some oshigata with Masahiro signing dai-mei for the Shodai (see Masahiro section, page 97), and he signed 'Tadahiro' for a little over a year. I think that when it is said "Masahiro took the Tadayoshi name", it means that he was allowed to sign dai-mei for Tadayoshi, which after 1624 would be with a 'Tadahiro' mei, rather than actually signing with a 'Tadayoshi' mei. There are many errors in the limited English translations of the Japanese references; some even saying that the Nidai signed dai-mei in 1624 (The Nidai would have been about 10 years old!). The Japanese references are also not any clearer on the subject of dai-mei by Masahiro, Yoshinobu or Tosa, presumably due to a lack of research. My view is that Masahiro signed dai-mei for Shodai Tadahiro in 1624, and whilst it is quite possible that he made a sword signed 'Tadayoshi', we have no oshigata of such a sword. We are also getting into semantics over a 'Tadayoshi' mei compared with a 'Tadahiro' mei. At the end of the day, Masahiro signed for the Shodai; a fact well established.
From August 1630, Shodai Tadahiro began signing custom order swords of exceptionally high quality for high ranking people. The mei are called kenjo-mei, and obviously indicate a valuable sword.
NIDAI TADAHIRO - 2nd Gen Tadayoshi (This is the famous swordsmith from the previous page)
Signatures and years beginning of its use
From year 1633:
HIZEN KUNI TADAHIRO
HISHU JU TADAHIRO SAKU
HIZEN KUNI JU FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
HIZEN KUNI JU HASHIMOTO TAIRA SAKU
HIZEN KUNI SAGA JUNIN SHINSAEMONJO TADAHIRO SAKU
From 20 Jul 1641:
TADAHIRO
OMI DAIJO TADAHIRO
OMI DAIJO FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
HIZEN KUNI JU OMI DAIJO TADAHIRO
HIZEN KUNI JU OMI DAIJO FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
HISHU JU OMI DAIJO FUJIWARA TADAHIRO
BORN: 1614 in Saga, Hizen
DIED: 27th May 1693 (age 81)
Name: Hashimoto Heisakuro; later changed to Hashimoto Shinsaemon [Omi Daijo Tadahiro]
Father: Hashimoto Shinsaemonjo (Tadayoshi 1st)
Hashimoto Heisakuro (Shinsaemon) (Tadahiro 2nd) was born in Saga, Hizen in 1614 to a 42 year old Hashimoto Shinsaemonjo Tadayoshi (1st. gen.). Tadayoshi 1st had earlier adopted Yoshinobu, so the arrival of Tadahiro 2nd later in life provided a much welcomed blood heir to the Tadayoshi lineage. It is reported that being illegitimate, Tadahiro 2nd was raised in the company of women and was therefore a quiet, thoughtful person who later became dedicated to sword smithing. (It is interesting to note that Iwata Takashi, in his articles on the Hizen Schools published by the NBTHK, says that the Nidai was legitimate. This is contrary to all my other research.) It is said that when Tadayoshi received the title Musashi Daijo on 18 Feb 1624, Tadahiro joined his fathers forge at the age of 10 years old. Tadayoshi 1st, Masahiro 1st, and Yoshinobu all taught the young Tadahiro, and he took over the Tadayoshi School at the age of 19 when his father died in 1632, although it is postulated that Masahiro as senior smith, effectively ran the school for a short time. Tadahiro reportedly made no swords in the year that followed his fathers death; maybe he grieved the passing of his father. At this time, he also changed his family name from Hashimoto Heisakuro to Hashimoto Shinsaemon. His new name first appears in 1634 on a document (pledge) by the Hashimoto family
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