Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi
近江守忠吉 (Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi)
Generation 6
Sixth master of the main Tadayoshi line of Saga in Hizen, active in the later 18th century until his death in 1815.
Profile
The sixth master of the main Tadayoshi line, the smiths of Saga in Hizen who served the Nabeshima clan. Born in 1736 as the second son of the fifth Tadayoshi, he became heir when his elder brother died young. While his father lived he signed Tadahiro (忠広); on his father's death in 1775 he took the name Tadayoshi and the family's common name, Hashimoto Shinzaemon (橋本新左衛門). In 1790 he received the title Ōmi no Kami (近江守), which his father had also held, and from then on signed Hizen no Kuni Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi. He spent many years working in his father's shadow, at a time when demand for swords was low, so signed work of his own is scarce; what is known falls mostly in the Kansei era (1789-1801). He kept to the house manner: a fine konuka-hada and a suguha hamon, at times with notare. He died in 1815 at the age of eighty, and the line passed to his son.
Swords available
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Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi, sixth generation
Katana signed by the sixth-generation Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi of Hizen, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, full koshirae and shirasaya. Katana by Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi, sixth generation of the Tadayoshi line of Hizen province. According to the original seller, the smith, Hashimoto Shinzaemon, was the son of the fifth Tadayoshi, is ranked as a jōsaku smith, and the blade belongs to the Edo period, Tenmei era. It measures 70.2 cm in nagasa with 1.4 cm of sori, a motohaba of 3.05 cm, a sakihaba of 2.25 cm and a motokasane of 0.72 cm. The photographs show a shinogi-zukuri blade without hi and a nakago that appears intact, with continuous yasurime, a single mekugi-ana and the signature 肥前国近江守忠吉 (Hizen no Kuni Ōmi no Kami Tadayoshi) on the omote. The photographs also show a complete koshirae: a garnet lacquered saya with raised karakusa and pierced metal fittings, a four-lobed tsuba engraved with karakusa, a tsuka with dark ito over white same, gilt dragon menuki and a kashira inset with same. The original seller neither describes nor dates the mounting. It comes with a shirasaya and the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, photographed, issued in Reiwa 8 (2026).
50.5/100
€12,950
