The Flowers of Edo

[Toryu2020]

Saw something today that reminded me of this old article - originally published in the newsletter of the Northern California Japanese Sword Club - note many of these swords were included in the recent exhibition; Reborn.

 

Fire

Osaka Okaji, Edo Okaji

大坂大火, 江戸大鍛冶

Thomas C Helm @San Francisco in California

 

In a land of paper and wood homes fire was a dread scourge from earliest times, there were great fires in the old capitols of Nara and Kyoto. There were many notable fires during the Heian period and one could argue that it was fire that brought an end to that elegant age. It was 1177 the year of Angen when the record storehouse at the imperial palace burned down with nearly all its precious records inside effectively erasing 400 years of culture. This was followed by great fires in 1180, 1182, 1188 and 1208.

            The centre of power shifted from Kyoto to Kamakura and as before fire continued to follow earthquake and battle all throughout the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates. Toward the end of the age of war Oda Nobunaga sealed his hold on fame or infamy with the destruction of the temples on Hieizan in 1571, followed by the immolation of the Ikko in 1574, and the burning of the Honganji in 1580 before he himself died surrounded by flames at the Honnoji in 1582.

            In the Edo period fire continued to plague the great cities of Japan prompting one observer to note “… and earthquakes and fires are the flowers of Edo.” It’s said there was a fire somewhere in Edo every week and a great fire once every three years. Great fires were those that consumed more than 15 hectares of land. Some notable fires include the following;

            The great furisode fire of Meireki 明暦 3 (1657). One of the greatest fires to attack Edo and one of the greatest ghost stories ever told as well. Seems a young maiden died an unhappy death by her own hand, her poor family sold off her good kimono. The new owner, though also a young woman died soon after amid strange circumstance. The kimono was sold again and again the innocent who received it was soon dead. When a third girl died and it was seen to be connected to the unlucky garment it was returned to the family. In an attempt to purge the spirit of the suicide a priest was called in, in performing his exorcism he made to destroy the gown. However as he started to burn it something went terribly wrong and the resultant fire destroyed half of the great city with tremendous loss of life.

            These fires prompted the Bakufu to organize fire brigades, the houses of the Daimyo did the same. As these were made up of samurai they often would do little to aid the ordinary citizens who were threatened with fire and so the neighborhoods organized their own fire brigades; Hikeshi.

            In Tenna天和 2 nen (1682), a teenaged girl, Oshichi, caught a glimpse of a young acolyte while sheltering from a fire in her local temple. Hoping to see him again she set a fire only to see it burn wildly out of control. The destruction was incredible and her culpability undeniable. Whether she saw her would-be priest ever again is unknown.

            Genroku 元禄11 nen (1698) brought the great Chudo fire and not long after came the Mito-sama Kaji. So called because this fire started within the Mito lords Edo mansion. Because of the situation of the mansion the resultant fire destroyed nearly every Edo home of the great lords of Japan at the time, more than 300 in all.

            Meiwa 明和 9 nen brought the Meguro Gyunin-zaka fire followed in Bunka 文化3 nen by another great fire and in 1855 (安政 2) perhaps the last great fire of the Edo period which came amid tremendous political upheaval and was the result of a great earthquake.

            Of course you may note a gap in my history, this is because the greatest fire in history was probably the great furisode fire of Meireki mentioned above. However as it pertains to the world of the Japanese sword there can be only one great fire and that is the conflagration of Osaka castle in 1615 at the conclusion of the Summer Battle.

            As I am sure you know Ieyasu had done all that he could to weaken the defenses of what many considered the strongest fortress then in existence in Japan, when he filled in both moats at the end of the Winter Battle. He wooed supporters away from Hideyori and frustrated the plans of his mother, Yodo-dono at every opportunity. He carefully chose his actions so as not to anger the old comrades of Hideyoshi and when the time was right took to the field to destroy the Toyotomi once and for all.

            With 100,000 troops to garrison her fortress, her own troop of specially outfitted female guards, a years worth of provisions and a horde of gold never before seen in the history of the nation, Yodo may well have felt her position secure within the tower of Osaka. None of it was to last though, in spite of valiant efforts on the part of her army, the Western troops began to make breaches into the castle on the 8^th day of the 5^th month of the first year of Genna (元和1615) after a siege of nearly a month. Traitorous hearts seeing the tide turning then set fires here and there turning the castle into a furnace.

            The main donjon still stood though and held, at a signal, when it was clear all was lost, the Osaka troops themselves set fire to the tower. Somewhere inside Hideyori assisted by Mori Katsunaga and Yodo-dono assisted by Ujiie Doki, took their own lives, along with 13 of her ladies and 23 of her generals, their bodies to be consumed in the flames.

            That of course was not all that was consumed, besides the golden treasures that Hideyoshi had amassed, mighty swords, famed blades from the age of Yoritomo, were also lost. The Kyoho Meibutsu Cho a compilation of the best known works of the era (Kyoho 享保1716-1735) has a section listing 77 famed swords lost to fire, some to the Great Fire of Meireki but most from the collection of the Taiko lost in the razing of Osaka castle. When the damage was all assessed on that long ago day the losses on the Osaka side included some 14, 534 men along with blades by Yoshihiro, Yoshimitsu, Munechika, Sadamune and Masamune and others.

            Enter Shodai Yasutsugu, who was charged with re-tempering those of these masterpieces that were recovered. His close association with Ieyasu gave him unprecedented access to the finest swords in Japan, including those captured from Osaka. Almost immediately he was producing copies of the famed works of the Soshu school, which were looked on with special favor by Hideyoshi himself.

            Sato Kanzan tells us “When we say copies (utsushi-mono) it usually has a negative ring, for many it is a polite way to say fake, however this is not the case with Yasutsugu. He always included a bit of his own personality in his copies and his signatures, his soe-mei, always made it clear these were works made with the best of intentions.”

            Among the works he copied were the following;

海老名古鍛治宗近 - Ebina Kokaji Sanjo Munechika

若江正宗 - Wakae Masamune a tanto so called for the site in Osaka where it was recovered.

獅子貞宗  - Shishi Sadamune, “the lion” by Sadamune of Soshu

あたき貞宗 - Ataki Sadamune, also by Sadamune of Soshu

親子貞宗  - Oyako Sadamune, “mother and child Sadamune” (fig.7,8 and 9)

鯰尾吉光 - Namazu-wo Yoshimitsu, the “Catfish tail,” by Toshiro Yoshimitsu (fig.5,6)

一期一振り吉光 - Ichigo Hitofuri Yoshimitsu, his one and only tachi, this translates as “one life one sword.” Also the work of Awataguchi Toshiro Yoshimitsu (fig.1,2)

            and among those few not lost to fire at Osaka;

松竹貞宗 - Shochiku Sadamune, named for the Plum and Bamboo horimono. (fig.10)

切り刃貞宗 - Kiriha Sadamune, a wakizashi with shinogi close to the ha.

骨食吉光 - Honebami Toshiro, or the “Bone-cruncher,” by Yoshimitsu. (fig.11,12 and 13)

            Shodai Yasutsugu made many copies of famous works and seems to have taken quiet a bit of inspiration from the early masters, the nidai also made a number of copies but not as many and the sandai made absolutely none if Sato is to be believed Although we do know that the sandai did do the re-temper on the Honebami Yoshimitsu when it was burned in the great Meireki fire.

            The structure of Osaka castle built by Hideyoshi was burned in 1615 but the battlements remained. The Tokugawa re-dug the moats and rebuilt the donjon and it stood for another two hundred years only to be destroyed in the restoration wars. Of course at that time there was no great loss of life and no treasures other than the castle itself destroyed, as the Choshu samurai that lay siege to it in 1868 gave all occupants the chance to evacuate before razing it whole with purifying, terrible, inexorable, fire. 

 

 

Kaji-ba

 

火中kachū in the fire

火先hisaki direction in which the flames are spreading

火宅kataku house on fire, world of suffering, the mortal realm

火災kasai conflagration

火事見舞いkaji mimai sympathy visit or gifts after a fire

火事場泥棒 kajibadorobo (火事ドロkajidoro) thief at a fire

火事場kajiba scene of a fire

火除けhiyo(ke) protection against fire

火柱hibashira pillar of flames

火達磨hidaruma mass of flames, or a person engulfed in flame

火足hiashi the speed of a spreading fire

火移りhiusturi catching fire

火勢kasei force of the flames

火炎hono-o or kaen fire and smoke

小火shōka, boya small fire

山火事yamakaji forest fire

天火tenka fire or natural disaster caused by lightning (Tenpi – oven)

引火性inkasei flammability

失火shikka accidental fire

付け火tsukebi arson

防火用水bōka yosui water for putting out fires

近火kinka, chikabi a fire in one’s neighborhood

自火jika a fire starting in one’s own home

拝火教haikakyō fire worship, Zoroastrianism

怪火kaika fire of mysterious origin

飛び火to(bi)hi flying sparks, leaping flames

急火kyūka a sudden fire; a nearby fire

烈火rekka raging fire

舟火事funakaji fire aboard a ship

貰い火mora(i)bi catch fire (from a neighboring burning building)

魚火isa(ri)bi, gyoka fire for luring fish at night

類火ruika a spreading fire, first mentioned in the Taiheiki

 

 

Fig.1 Ichigo Hitofuri from Kotoku Katana Ezu

Fig.2 Ichigo Hitofuri Utsushi

Fig.3 Namazu wo Yoshimitsu from Kotoku Katana Ezu

 Fig.4 Namazuwo Yoshimitsu Utsushi

 Fig.5 Ebina Kokaji Munechika from Kotoku Katana Ezu

 Fig. 6 Ebina Kokaji utsushi

Fig.7 Oyako Sadamune from Kotoku Katana Ezu 

Fig.8 Oyako Sadamune Utsushi 

Fig.9 Oyako Sadamune Utsushi 

Fig.10 Shochiku Sadamune Utsushi 

Fig.11 Honebami Toshiro from Kotoku Katana Ezu 

Fig.12 Honebami Horimono

Fig.13 Honebami Utsushi 

*Yasutsugu images from Yasutsugu Taikan by Sato Kanichi 昭和35

**Oshigata from Kotoku Katana Ezu by Hon’Ami Kotoku 文禄3 (1594) 

 

 

Fire copy 6.pdf

[Toryu2020]

Not sure what happened to my images...

[NewB]

Thank you nonetheless!

 

 

 

John

[Toryu2020]

Ok so it looks like I managed to clean it up - below is a link to the program which brought this back up...

-t

 

https://tinyurl.com/f527v8be