Kantei
Dark tang with two engraved characters beside a hole, below a gilt habaki, on a mauve background.

Edo and Hakodate · Kiyomaro school

Minamoto Masao (源正雄)

From the Kiyomaro school to Hakodate: swords forged with iron sand from Ezo

Minamoto Masao (源正雄) was, according to the state record, a leading pupil of Minamoto Kiyomaro. Between 1858 and 1860 he forged in Hakodate, in Ezo, with local iron sand: a katana of 1859 made there is a cultural property of Hokkaidō. Very little is known of his life and work.

Hakodate City Museum, via Hokkaido Digital Museum

1858
Arrives in Hakodate
3
Years forging in Hakodate
1859
Katana in the Hakodate Museum
1970
Cultural property of Hokkaidō since
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Minamoto Masao HD
Kanji and reading
源正雄 (Minamoto Masao) HD
Period
Shinshintō, late Edo period: Hakodate blades of 1858 and 1859 HD
Province
Worked in Edo, in Musashi, and from 1858 to 1860 in Hakodate, in Ezo (today Hokkaidō) AT
School
That of Kiyomaro HD
Master
Minamoto Kiyomaro (源清麿, Minamoto Kiyomaro), of whom he was a leading pupil (高弟, kōtei) HD
Title
None known PC
Generations
One: no other generation with this name is recorded in the sources consulted PC
Who he is confused with
With Yamaura Saneo (山浦真雄), Kiyomaro’s elder brother, whose name is also read Masao AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his civil name, his relationship with Kiyomaro and the 1859 katana, from the state record and the museum’s. Tradition: the reason for his journey to Hakodate, which the state record relates as “it is said”. Neither his origin nor his dates are recorded. AT

In short

The state record on Bunka Isan Online presents him as a leading pupil of Minamoto Kiyomaro, whom it calls the greatest smith of late Edo, and gives him his civil name. According to the same record, it is said that he arrived in Hakodate in 1858 at the invitation of the magistrate Hori Oribe no Shō (堀織部正), who wanted to promote industry in Ezo, and that he forged there for three years with iron sand from the Shiriuchi coast. His swords are few: those from Hakodate are mostly dated 1858, and those of 1859 are rare.

Sections

  1. From Edo to Hakodate Life and times The Kiyomaro school, the three years in Hakodate and the two Masao.
  2. What is known Work and style The shape, the signature and what is not recorded.
  3. In museums Famous works The Hakodate katana, a cultural property of Hokkaidō.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.