Kantei
The tang and the lower part of a blade, with a signature of several characters on the tang and, on the blade, a dragon coiled around a sword and other carvings.

Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase · ColBase terms of use

Saijō ō-wazamono · blades in museums

Famous works

None of his blades is an Important Cultural Property or a National Treasure in what was consulted; his katana of 1629 is an Important Art Object, that of 1630 is a cultural property of Saga prefecture, and the Tokyo and Kyūshū National Museums hold several more.

On this page
  1. In the lists and the treatises
  2. His designated works
  3. In the museums
  4. What tradition says
  5. Gallery of works

In the lists and the treatises

YearList or treatiseRank
1797Kaihō Kenjaku (懐宝剣尺), by Yamada Asaemon最上大業物 (saijō ō-wazamono), the first of four grades, for the first Tadayoshi and for the third, Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi; the second, among the 大業物 (ō-wazamono)
1933 (published in 1935)Nihontō jiten, shintō-hen, by Tomita Kiyama“Hizen no kuni Tadayoshi”, yokozuna of the western side, according to the Japanese Sword Index

Japanese Wikipedia says that three of the twelve saijō ō-wazamono are of the family; English Wikipedia gives two, the first and the third. Japanese Wikipedia also rates his work as 新刀最上作 (shintō saijō-saku), the highest grade of shintō.

His designated works

  • Katana of 1629, signed 武蔵大掾藤原忠広 (Musashi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro), with the inscription “this Tadahiro is a pupil of Umetada Myōju” and the latter’s carvings: an Important Art Object (重要美術品, jūyō bijutsuhin), in the Tokyo National Museum.
  • Katana of 1630, of 75.6 cm, signed 肥前國住藤原忠廣 (Hizen no kuni jū Fujiwara Tadahiro) without the title, with the presentation signature: an Important Cultural Property of Saga prefecture, of the Nabeshima Hōkōkai Foundation, in the Chōkokan Museum in Saga. It is said to have been carried by Nabeshima Katsushige.

In the museums

  • Katana signed 肥前国忠吉 (Hizen no kuni Tadayoshi) and dated the eighth month of 1600, the earliest dated signature of his that is known, in the Tokyo National Museum.
  • Wakizashi in hira-zukuri of around 1627, of 40 cm, signed 武蔵大掾藤原忠広 (Musashi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro), in the Tokyo National Museum, which describes it as rare for its shape.
  • Katana signed 肥前国住武蔵大掾藤原忠広 (Hizen no kuni jū Musashi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro), with a mounting of clouds and cranes and fittings by Gotō Kōrai of 1868, in the Tokyo National Museum.
  • Katana signed 肥前国忠吉 (Hizen no kuni Tadayoshi) / 同国刳物宗長 (dōkoku kurimono Munenaga), of 68.2 cm, with a dragon and a kurikara by Munenaga, and another with the invocation to Kannon 南無観世音菩薩 (Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu), both in the Tokyo National Museum.
  • Two katana in the Kyūshū National Museum: one signed 武蔵大掾藤原忠廣 (Musashi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro), of 62.2 cm, and another signed 肥前国住人忠吉作 (Hizen no kuni jūnin Tadayoshi saku), of 73.6 cm.
  • A wakizashi of 39.2 cm signed with Munenaga, Jūyō Tōken of the NBTHK, shown at the Japanese Sword Museum in 2020.

What tradition says

According to Japanese Wikipedia, 坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto Ryōma) left Tosa with a Hizen Tadahiro; later, according to one testimony, he lent it to 岡田以蔵 (Okada Izō), who broke its point in an assassination. It is said to have been in the Yūshūkan of the Yasukuni shrine, and today its whereabouts are unknown. It is not recorded which generation it was by.