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His life
He was born in Kuroiwa (黒岩), in the Takaoka district of Tosa, today the town of Sakawa (佐川町), in Kōchi Prefecture. The Japanese Wikipedia gives 1805 (Bunka 2) in its header and 1806 (Bunka 3) in the text; he died in Kyoto on 1 May 1865 (Keiō 1), at the age of 61. His father, Morioka Zen’emon, forged large saws (大鋸, ōga) for cutting timber. Tomotaka followed the family trade and on his own made a few tantō that brought him fame; in the Bunsei era (1818-1830) he decided to become a swordsmith, separated from his wife, who opposed it, and left for Kyoto.
Kyoto, Edo and Tosa
In Kyoto he was an assistant (後見, kōken) to Iga no Kami Kinmichi (伊賀守金道) and hammer assistant (相槌, aitsuchi) to the nobleman Chigusa Arikoto, an amateur of forging. In the Tenpō era (1830-1844) he also worked next to the shrine of Yushima Tenjin (湯島天神), in Edo. In 1858 (Ansei 5) he returned to Tosa, forged in Futatsuno and Suzuhara, in Kuroiwa, and taught the technique to his nephew, the future Tomokuni, and to Furusawa Yoshimasa, a retainer of the Horio house. The sign at the site of his workshop, seen in one of the videos of this monograph, presents it as a cultural property designated by the town of Sakawa.
He spent his last years in Hataeda (幡枝), north of Kyoto, today in Sakyō ward: he went on forging, taught swordsmanship and founded his own school, the Kishin-ryū (気心流).
The theorist
He wrote three books: the Tōken gogyōron (刀剣五行論), the Hōken kidan (宝剣奇談) and the Shintō meishūroku (新刀銘集録). He supported Suishinshi Masahide’s theory of the return to the old ways (復古, fukko) and travelled the country teaching the forging of the old schools; for their work as teachers, the two were called the pillars of the east and the west. The Tokyo National Museum holds Morioka Tomotaka’s Shintō meishūroku in five volumes, with a preface of 1850 (Kaei 3). Markus Sesko counts him in Masahide’s circle, with Taikei Naotane and Hosokawa Masayoshi, and the American branch of the NBTHK places him beside Masahide among those who championed the return to the old swords. In the Shintō meishūroku he praises Fujieda Tarō Teruyoshi, of Edo: his swords are purely practical and all of them cut well.
Who carried his swords
According to the Japanese Wikipedia, Takechi Hanpeita (武市半平太) bought a katana from him in Sukumo around 1860, and Andō Hayatarō, of the Shinsengumi, carried in the attack on the Ikedaya (池田屋事件, Ikedaya jiken) a katana of his from 1826 that broke at the monouchi; Andō died of his wounds shortly afterwards.
The generations
His son Tomoyoshi (朝良) was forging with his father at the age of eight and at eleven made a tantō signed Toramaru (虎丸); he died young, around 1881, at the age of 35. His nephew and student Tomokuni (朝国) signed in 1863 (Bunkyū 3) a naginata of 74.2 cm that is today in the Tokyo National Museum, with the signature 土佐住森岡兵庫朝国作之 (Tosa jū Morioka Hyōgo Tomokuni kore o tsukuru).
His grandson Morioka Shōkichi became a swordsmith on the advice of Tanaka Mitsuaki (田中光顕) and learnt under Miyamoto Kanenori and Gassan Sadakazu. His great-grandson learnt under the engraver Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu and then under Takahashi Sadatsugu, and worked as Nankaitarō Masataka. The name Nankaitarō Tomotaka seems to have been used only by the founder.
What tradition says
Tomotaka claimed descent in the 17th generation from Prince Takayoshi (尊良親王, Takayoshi shinnō), eldest son of Emperor Go-Daigo, through a genealogy he commissioned from a genealogist. The Japanese Wikipedia considers it doubtful, because his early works are signed with the surname Fujiwara.