Tsubako As Katchushi?

[Steve Waszak]

This post is really directed at the "armor guys" here...

 

In various reference works, the Momoyama Owari tsubako Yamasaka Kichibei Shigenori and Kawaguchi Saburoemon Noriyasu ("Hoan" is the name he is better known by in tsuba) are mentioned as armorers working for Oda Nobunaga.  I'm wondering if any of the armor guys here might have a reference publication which either lists or illustrates an armor or kabuto work by one or both of these smiths.  It is unlikely, I realize, but on seeing such mentions of these smiths so specifically as armorers for Nobunaga, I am curious if there might be any publications that note such information.  Thanks.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[IanB]

Steve,  I don't think you will really find a link. There was a Shigenori whose working dates are quoted as being 1573 - 91. He is supposed to have lived in Shiroi in Kozuke province. In Shinkatchushi Meikan there is a whole load about his supposed lineage from various Myochin smiths, all of which you can probably take with a pinch of snuff. If the dates quoted are anywhere near correct, it would fit him into the right time frame but his place of residence puts him some way from Owari. Remember that armourers were generally regarded as outcasts because they handled skins and rawhide, so by and large they were not recorded with the reverence accorded to swordsmiths. I have however found a reference to the effect that during the Momoyama, because of the high demand for armour, leather workers, and presumably the armourers themselves, were courted by the daimyo and given a temporary higher status if they would move to their provinces. During the Edo period any sort of proper treatment of them fell off again although there is more details about their genealogies, generally written by themselves.  I also found that during the early Edo period, and probably earlier, some 25,000 deer skins per year were imported from SE Asia which gives some idea of the scale of leather working around that time..

 

Generally people of status like  Oda Nobunaga tended to patronised armour makers like the Iwai of Nara rather than some relatively minor smith in Kozuke. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful

Ian Bottomley

[Steve Waszak]

Many thanks for this, Ian.  Very helpful, actually.  Does it make sense to speculate that, as Sengoku Jidai aggressions wound down over the course of the Momoyama years, "no-name" armorers who showed special skill in finer metal work would (be allowed to) transfer their efforts to tsuba and away from armor production?  I guess I'm just wondering what the dynamics were that would see tsubako of the caliber of Yamakichibei and Hoan emerge from the anonymity of armor-making.  Both of these smiths are thought to have lived and worked in Kiyosu, Owari (along with Nobuiye).  Might there have been some special circumstance that could explain how these guys evolved into tsubako, even tsubako who signed their work (among the very first smiths to sign tsuba)?  Just thinking out loud here...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[IanB]

Steve,  I think you are right. As the demand for armour declined, some armour makers probably started making tsuba as a way of keeping food on the table. It must have been a bit of learning curve for them but I'm sure they could do it. They were after all used to making plates, albeit thinner than most tsuba, drilling holes and so on. I wonder if the fact that wakizashi were becoming more common, increased the demand for smaller tsuba. As for place of work, a lot of Sengoku lords were killed off, whilst the Tokugawa moved the remainder around quite a bit when they came into power. Apparently Kozuke was ruled successively by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the Hojo and finally the Tokugawa. By the Edo period the inhabitants must have been unsure whether it was Christmas or Tuesday.

Ian Bottomley

[Steve Waszak]

Thanks, Ian.  Your thoughts are much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve