Hirosaki Castle

Connection to Swords

The Tsugaru clan were a daimyō house that devoted extraordinary enthusiasm to sword collecting, and the collection of celebrated blades gathered by successive domain lords ranked among the finest in Tōhoku. Tsugaru Tamenobu, the first domain lord, was a fierce warrior who fought through to victory in wars of independence from the Nanbu clan, and possessed deep knowledge of swords backed by actual battlefield experience. The swords that Tamenobu wielded in battle were passed down through successive generations as family treasures of the Tsugaru house, becoming spiritual pillars of the warrior lineage. The Hirosaki domain maintained official swordsmiths who, within the sword-culture sphere of Tōhoku, developed a distinctive style that set them apart from the Kunikane school of Sendai. The swordsmiths of Hirosaki domain originated from the Soshu Kunihiro school, invited from Soshu (present-day Kanagawa Prefecture) by the first domain lord Tsugaru Tamenobu, and while influenced by Soshu tradition, they forged practical swords rooted in Tsugaru's climate and terrain. The blades tempered in the severe cold of the north earned the trust of northern warriors as tools to which their lives were entrusted. Furthermore, leveraging the domain's financial strength, the Tsugaru clan actively purchased swords by celebrated smiths from Kyoto and Osaka, and possessed a wide range of works spanning from the old-sword period to the new-sword period. The Hirosaki City Museum displays numerous swords, armor, and sword fittings handed down from the Tsugaru house, making it an indispensable institution for understanding the sword culture of daimyō houses in Tōhoku. The sword culture born from the harsh natural environment of the Tsugaru region and the spirit of its warriors possesses a rustic and powerful charm distinct from the elegant Kyoto culture, and speaks to the diversity of Japanese swords. The sword culture of Tsugaru is inseparable from the spirituality tempered in the severity of winter, and its austere strength continues to move many hearts even in the present day. Among the swords handed down from the Tsugaru house are said to have been rare sword fittings obtained through trade with Ezo (Hokkaido), demonstrating cultural characteristics unique to the Tōhoku region.