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Omura Kaboku - Surgeon, Sword-Smith, Ronin, Eccentric

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general_piffle

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I found the following fascinating and hope you also enjoy it. Having just bought a katana made by Omura Kaboku I thought it best to research him. The more I discovered the more I liked him...

 

Omura Kaboku. Born in Suruga Uegahara the 2nd son of  Mori Sukeemon officially he was Shintaro then Jirozaemon then Goroemon and finally Jibuzaemon. Early signatures include 義博Yoshihiro, 義秀Yoshihide and 康英Yasuhide. He studied medicine under Tsunoda Kyuho, and he seems to have started forging swords at an early age. According to legend because he had taken up the study of western medicine and he was not satisfied with the scalpels that were available, so endeavoured to make his own. 

 

He was employed as the On-Geka, Lords Surgeon, for the Echigo Takata Matsudaira family serving Mitsunaga, here forged many swords and seems to have had access to the family’s swords.  There was a dispute over the succession of this household that finally reached the ears of the Shogun. All were punished according to rank, several of the lords counsellors were ordered to commit seppuku and this branch of the Matsudaira family was abolished.

 

When the time came he walked with his lords procession, as it headed back to Echigo, to the outskirts of Edo, where he knelt beside the kago and asked to be relieved of duty. With his princes’ blessing he now stood beside the roadway, the procession disappearing in the distance, a ronin.

 

At this same time in Edo, Zhu Shunsui a minister of the Ming government was living in exile, working to restore his own government and return to China. He was known as a great scholar and this attracted many learned men to his door. Kaboku is known to have visited him, perhaps he was researching a question of medicine or of ancient literature or perhaps he himself sought to restore his own lord and found in him a kindred spirit.

 

Whatever the circumstance both men soon found themselves in the employ of Mito Komon Mitsukuni. Zhu Shunsui as a scholar working on the Dai Nihon Shi and Kaboku as physician, companion and swordsmith.

 

Now we mentioned that Kaboku was a singular individual, Fukunaga Suiken calls him a first rate eccentric, the tops among swordsmiths. He was an adept at Jujutsu, he studied western medicine, Chinese medicine, as well as the forging techniques of many of the great koto swordsmiths. He must have been very well educated to appeal to Mitsukuni and to be included in his rare group of scholarly friends and advisors. He was a fanatic believer in Shingon sect Buddhism and was by many accounts very much convinced of his own superiority. 

 

Add to this the tale that he was enamoured of sleeping in the nude and was known to relieve himself in public in this state. It has been said that he protested the noisy passers-by in his neighbourhood of an early morning, by defecating in the street, in full view. Of course if anyone complained they found he was personal physician to the lord of Mito and the complaints stopped there. 

It is not clear where he learned sword-making, though some sources suggest it was with Hojoji Saburodayu Masahiro. He made katana and wakizashi in Bizen or Soshu style, itame hada tachi with masame in the shinogi ji. He liked to copy the Dojigiri Yasutsuna a blade which he said he saw often, perhaps during his time in Echigo. The Kantei Dokuhon describes the works as rustic but I personally found the Kaboku blade at the 1997 national Museum exhibit to be one of the more interesting pieces. It had outstanding hada, visible utsuri and a finely cut hi. You’ll find it is item number 283 in the Nihon no Katana catalogue but the photos do not do it justice.

 

His earliest dated work is from Shoho 3 nen, when he was still employed in Echigo. His signatures include: 

 

越後幕下士大村加卜作

Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku tsukuru
 

作武士大森治部左衛門号大村加卜慰作

saku Bushi Omori Jibuzaemon go Omura Kaboku isaku

越後幕下士大村加卜慰作之　真十五枚甲伏造

Echigo Bakkashi  Omura Kaboku isaku kore 

Shin-jugomai kobuse tsukuru

越後幕下士大村加卜慰作慰作真十五枚甲伏安綱伝

Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku isaku Shin-jugomai Kobuse Yasutsuna den

越後幕下士大村加卜慰指図鍛冶欲聞

九百年来の物語子非鍛冶

Echigo Bakkashi Omura Kaboku i sashizu Tanya yoku hosuru ki kyuhaku-nen kitasu no monogatari ko hi Kaji

常陸国水戸住真珠五枚甲伏鍛大村加卜作

Hitachi (no) Kuni Mito ju Shin-jugomai Kobuse kitau Omura Kaboku saku. 

 

Other works date from Kanbun 11 and Empo 4 and 5 this is a rather long span, giving rise to the theory that there may have been a nidai though this remains unproven.

 

If he was twenty years of age say when he debuted as a full fledged swordsmith in Shoho 3 he would have been over 80 when he finally met his end in Genroku 17.

 

As you can see from his mei he seems to have done most of his forging while a young man in Echigo, though he is thought of as a Mito smith (Tsunaishi says Edo). He seemed to stress that he was no swordsmith at all but a samurai making swords for pleasure including the term “isaku” in many of his signatures. This is supported by the fact that Mito employed his students and his job seemed to be Physician or companion to Giko. 

 

We can surmise that he was in Edo most of his time while in the employ of Mitsukuni attending upon the lord where he in fact had to spend most of his time. We do know that he forged swords in Mito at the Kyotofuji Temple a rather out of the way spot in relation to the castle town but a Shingon temple with a large following in his time. We know that he forged here because beside the records that tell of his work there, there exits a kusari-gama that he forged for the village headman at whose home he stayed while working at the temple.

 

He was known to be deeply devoted to his Shingon practice, one can imagine him feverishly reciting sutras as the monks burned piles of fuda, chanting along with him and his assistants Boku-O (卜翁) and Boku-yu (卜宥) as they hammered steel into blade. These two were actually the Edo Akasaka smith Shimosaka Kunihiro and the Hachioji Shitahara smith Yamamoto Fujio Yasukuni. Another of Kaboku’s students would style himself as Bando-Taro Boku-Den (卜伝). It is testament to Kaboku’s  faith and personality that these men took Buddhist vows to become to his co-workers and officially took the names he bestowed upon them. Incidentally one of Tokugawa Mitsukuni’s reforms was to abolish the practice of laymen shaving their heads when they took Buddhist vows in retirement. One wonders if that policy was influenced by Kaboku in anyway.

 

Kaboku’s works were thought of as wazamono or excellent cutting blades. As a young man it is said he himself cut off the head of an oxen with one of his own blades. This earned him the nickname of Ushikirimaru. On another occasion one of his swords is said to have split a Saotome helmet, and as testament to the fame of this event there is a gimei Kaboku blade with the name “Kabuto-wari” engraved right on the tang. Miura Okiemon Yoshimasa a master of Shin Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu tested some of Kaboku’s blades on the executed at Mito Akanuma prison. One of his works carries the go of Gyotoku-ken or “sword of meritorious action.”

 

There was also a ho-no-tachi or offertory sword that Kaboku dedicated to the Suwa jinja but sadly this was looted by the occupation army. This author at least is one man who would love to see it if it made it’s way to America.

 

Since his works are rather scarce Kaboku’s greatest contribution might be considered his book Kento Hiho (劍刀秘宝) ; Secret Treasures of The Sword. There were many impressions of this book printed and it is also known as Token Kaji Hiden (刀剣鍛冶秘伝) or Secrets of the Swordsmith. He opens his work with the statement that only four swordsmiths understood the true secret of making a masterpiece; Hoki Yasutsuna, Kamakura Ichimonji Sukezane, O-Sa and himself! He came to this realization “thanks to heaven and the light of the tachi which I myself have forged!” There are some writers who say that Kaboku was not mentally disturbed at all but that pronouncements like the above were not at all welcomed by his contemporaries and that is when people started saying he was crazy.

 

His book is a fascinating treatise on the construction and workmanship found in the great swords of old. He looks at Yasutsuna who was a favorite of his, Masamune, Sadamune, Ichimonji, Nagamitsu, Sukezane, Hosho, Hisakuni, Yoshimitsu, Yoshihiro, Norishige, Gassan, Sa, The Aoe and Mizuta schools as well as others. He focuses on the jigane and construction methods from which he “rediscovered” the secret of  Shin Jugo-mai Kobuse construction. A fact he notes on his nakago and his students used the method and also note this on their nakago but just what the details are of this remain unknown.

 

The superiority of his method is widely touted throughout his book by him of course. It is not clear what exactly his New fifteen fold method of kobuse was  However his writing drew many to take a second look at the old masterpieces. Suishinshi Masahide was inspired by Kaboku’s book to do his own research and reexamine the methods of the old swordsmiths.

 

Kaboku left the employ of the Mito family in January of 1699, Genroku 12. Some say because he did not get along with his immediate superior the Karo, Nakayama Bizen no Kami, others that his peculiar behavior and egotistical manner was offending too many people and this reached the ears of the lord. House records from 1698, record that his health was failing and it was decided that he be “retired” to Mito. Perhaps he did not wish to leave Edo and be confined to Mito. Whatever the reason the house record notes that he officially asked to resign and left to devote himself to his religious studies on that date. 

 

Five years later found him in the far north living in Oshu Nihonmatsu where one night he stood naked in his garden where he was confronted by an assassin. To this day no one knows who the man was nor why he might have been sent to kill Kaboku but his intent was clear enough. Without hesitation Kaboku, who held a mokuroku in Shibukawa-ryu Jujutsu, charged as his attacker charged him. He grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and used his own left arm to block the cut that was descending toward his head. Still clutching his severed left hand in his right he closed with his attacker and thrust the jagged bone into the mans mouth, here he fell upon him and smothered him with the bloody relic. 

 

Kaboku then went back into his home, perhaps something the assassin had said struck him, perhaps he understood from his own wounds that he would not survive, it is not clear why but using only the right hand he drew out a tanto and took his own life.  A strange end for one of the sword worlds strangest characters. 

 

There is no mention of a wife or daughter in the histories but at least one says that Musashi no Kami Yoshikado became his son-in-law and took the name Bokuden.

 

 

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george trotter Grand Master

george trotter

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Interesting Joel,

A couple of years ago I attended the shinsa held in Sydney, Australia. After the shinsa, on the last day, the best swords shinsa'd were revealed to the audience there...for this meeting it was a Kaboku...lucky owner!

Regards,

Jim P Proficient

Jim P

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Hi Joel, We have spoken about him on the NMB it was about a couple of years ago like George said.  Search for him there seems to be a few versions of the story :) 

general_piffle Collaborator

general_piffle

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I have always loved this smith and his work, I wonder where this wonderful article came from?

-t

 

I really wouldn't have any idea. Perhaps you could enlighten me?  ;-)

 

What a fascinating character Omura Kaboku was. Someone who certainly did things their own way. I'm so proud to have one of his swords and will certainly look after it with respect. Thank you for having provided so much interesting information about him.

 

I'm intrigued to find out more!

Stephen Grand Master

Stephen

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Joel 

 

I may be called out on this but common newbie mistake is wanting a sword in good polish to have a new flashy polish...id say your sword is in a fine polish ...plenty for you to learn from, from the way it is. Please reconsider after having it after at least six months.

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general_piffle Collaborator

general_piffle

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Joel 

 

I may be called out on this but common newbie mistake is wanting a sword in good polish to have a new flashy polish...id say your sword is in a fine polish ...plenty for you to learn from, from the way it is. Please reconsider after having it after at least six months.

 

Stephen, thank you for the advice. I'm going to take you up on it. Let's face it, the sword has been around for several hundred years and isn't going anywhere. I'll use it to learn from and enjoy before thinking about a polish again later. But am so happy to have this. It looks to my untrained eye to be a beauty and from such a wonderfully eccentric sword-smith  :)

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SAS Grand Master

SAS

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Stephen's advice is appropriate, the sword is in good polish and more would not benefit the sword. Congrats on your purchase, Joel, and thanks for sharing the background of the smith....cool dude!

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general_piffle Collaborator

general_piffle

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I would get some good opinions on the signature before buying this sword, it doesn't compare well with examples in the books.

 

Even though it's NBTHK papered / certified? Surely if the signature wasn't authentic this would have been called out as part of that process?

pcfarrar Veteran

pcfarrar

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As a new collector Joel would be unaware of the problems with old NBTHK papers....but he was warned in a previous thread about the dangers of buying from eBay by a few experienced forum members.

 

Being in London he should have gone to Don Bayney's shop in Grays Antique Market.

Heringsdorf Rising Star

Heringsdorf

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Komonjo from eBay, Careful! He doesn't own any of the blades he sells. He is associated with some unknown "sword dealers" over there, who usually sell very questionable blades.

Like stated already, I think it's a big mistake to buy anything nihonto related over eBay, unless you are very knowledgeable and find the few authentic things, worth buying. As a beginner one should only purchase from trusted dealers, or members on this forum who are recommended.

In regard of the old NBTHK papers, if the NBTHK will not even recognize them I wouldn't either. It's like not having any certificate.

Heringsdorf Rising Star

Heringsdorf

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One thing I find very indicative is that these swords are all still in Japan.

But Komonjo will never have them go through shinsa to get authorative papers.

I think that for the most part these swords didn't sell in Japan for whatever reason, so they are offered on eBay.

New collectors, not being aware of the big problem with old NBTHK papers, think that since its papered it must be fine.

general_piffle Collaborator

general_piffle

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:thanks:

 

@Joel: Why not mention you got that 1:1 from Tom?

 

Hi Markus, couple of things. When I found the information through Google I had no idea that it had been provided by someone on this forum. When Toryu / Thomas replied to this thread I recognised the URL in his signature and figured out where it had come from. Have a look at my post immediately after Thomas's where I thank him, saying "Thank you for having provided so much interesting information about him".

 

Is there some kind of protocol where I should now edit my original post to accredit Toryu with the benefit of hindsight or is acknowledging him and saying thanks enough?! Not being sarcastic just becoming more aware of the 'idiosyncracies' of this message board...

 

Thanks.

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general_piffle Collaborator

general_piffle

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The topic of older NBTHK papers has been discussed many times here.  I think the last go-around was:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/16555-authenticity-of-nbthk-papers-green-paper/?hl=%2Bgreen+%2Bpaper

 

I hope that your's is good.  :)

 

Thanks very much for the positive attitude Derek! As a newcomer to the board it's really appreciated.

 

So from reading through the thread in the link you provided a lot of people are saying that while there has been some discredit of the accuracy of NBTHK certification from a certain time and in more provincial areas it's also a problem that isn't as prolific as some are making out. That part, when it comes to the internet generally, is of no surprise.

 

Bottom line for me is of course I hope it's original and I might well send it to shinsa through our very own Kunitaro san out of curiosity. But regardless, in my eyes it's a beautiful sword that has 'probably' come from a fascinating sword-smith - and that's enough for me  :)

  • Like 1
pcfarrar Veteran

pcfarrar

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If its not too late get your money back. There are much better deals to be had from reputable dealers with modern NBTHK papers.

 

You've basically bought an unpapered katana with a very high risk of being gimei. For the price you paid its not worth it.

Markus Mentor

Markus

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Hi Markus, couple of things. When I found the information through Google I had no idea that it had been provided by someone on this forum. When Toryu / Thomas replied to this thread I recognised the URL in his signature and figured out where it had come from. Have a look at my post immediately after Thomas's where I thank him, saying "Thank you for having provided so much interesting information about him".

 

Is there some kind of protocol where I should now edit my original post to accredit Toryu with the benefit of hindsight or is acknowledging him and saying thanks enough?! Not being sarcastic just becoming more aware of the 'idiosyncracies' of this message board...

 

Thanks.

 

Not a big thing Joel and I also saw your reply to Tom. I just thought why not adding a short info in the first place, like "I found some interesting stuff here" and then the full quote, regardless of if Tom is on this board or not.

No need to edit your post and also I didn't want to sound rude.  :beer: 

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

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