Matsuba Hongyō

松葉本行 (Matsuba Hongyō)

Edo-period swordsmith with the title Kawachi no Kami, listed among the wazamono of the Yamada cutting list as Motoyuki of Osaka.

Round iron guard with an ox, a pine and chrysanthemums engraved in line and an inscription beside the central hole, in black and white.
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Profile

Matsuba Hongyō (松葉本行) is the swordsmith whom the Yamada cutting list of 1797 places among the wazamono, the fourth of its grades, as Motoyuki of Osaka; Hongyō and Motoyuki are two readings of the same kanji, and with his title he signed Kawachi no Kami Motoyuki (河内守本行). The Tokyo National Museum holds an iron tsuba signed with that name, and the Edo-Tokyo Museum another whose signature calls him a swordsmith. The journal of the Saga Prefectural Library devoted three articles to him between 1964 and 1967.

Monograph

Matsuba Hongyō (松葉本行) What is on record about him and what is not: his quick profile. Read the monograph

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