Nankai Tarō Tomotaka

Profile

Nankai Tarō Tomotaka, of the Morioka family, whose name is also read Chōson, was born early in the 19th century at Kuroiwa in Tosa, the son of a saw-maker. In the Bunsei era he moved to Kyoto, where he became attached to the house of Iga no Kami Kanemichi (伊賀守金道) and served as assistant striker to the court noble Chigusa Arikoto (千種有功). In the Tenpō era he also worked in Edo; later he forged in Tosa and Ōsaka, and he died in Kyoto in the mid-1860s. He signed Nankai Tarō Tomotaka or simply Tomotaka, at times adding his residence in Yamashiro or Tosa. A follower of the return to old forging methods argued for by Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀), he also wrote on theory: the Tōken gogyōron (刀剣五行論) and the Shintō meishūroku (新刀銘集録), a compilation of smiths' lineages and signatures. He trained many pupils from several provinces; some writers note that his blades do not always live up to his theories. Dated works of his have been shown in public museums in Kōchi.