Early Edo-Period Tsuba: The Golden Competition of Higo Kinko, Goto School, and Shoami

The Age of Peace and the "Artisticization" of Sword Fittings

With the fall of the Toyotomi clan at the Summer Campaign of Osaka in 1615 and the completion of unification under the Tokugawa shogunate, a period of peace lasting over 250 years followed. The demand for swords for actual battlefield use plummeted, while demand for sword fittings as "regalia demonstrating samurai prestige" grew rapidly instead.

In this era when the entire samurai class—daimyo, hatamoto, gokenin, and upper-ranked samurai—wore swords daily, sword fittings—particularly the tsuba—transcended their function as mere protective equipment and became a medium for expressing social status and aesthetic sensibility. Wearing an exquisitely crafted tsuba signaled the wearer's refinement, wealth, and discriminating taste. While the shogunate strictly controlled the conduct of daimyo through the Buke Shohatto, it was lenient regarding sword fitting designs, creating an environment where each domain vied to employ master craftsmen and compete in their own aesthetic vision.

In response to these demands of the age, several schools emerged during the early Edo period (early-to-late 17th century), each pursuing distinct aesthetic directions and forming a flourishing and diverse tsuba culture.

Higo Metalworkers—The "Higo Tsuba" Embodying the Samurai Aesthetic

Throughout the Edo period, a unique position was occupied by metalworkers who served the Kumamoto domain (Higo Province, present-day Kumamoto Prefecture). Hosokawa Tadaoki, founder of the Hosokawa domain (54 man koku in Higo), renowned as the husband of Gracia and counted among the Seven Disciples of Rikyu, was a master of tea ceremony, and his austere aesthetic sense deeply influenced the domain's craft culture. Moreover, the Hosokawa house, which employed many retainers of Kato Kiyomasa, retained a strong spirit of warriors with actual combat experience, which directly reflected in the character of its metalwork.

The characteristic of Higo metalwork lies in its "rugged utilitarian beauty." The mainstream approach eschewed gold, silver, and inlay, instead maximizing the beauty of the iron base itself. The Hosokawa domain's samurai spirit—simplicity, robustness, and lack of ornamentation—was directly reflected in the metalwork. The approach of investing enormous effort in forging the iron while deliberately avoiding flashy appearance is rooted in the same spirit of "wabi" found in tea ceremony.

The major lineages of Higo metalworkers are as follows.

• Hayashi family (はやしけ): The most renowned lineage among Higo metalworkers. The founder, Hayashi Matashichi, flourished in the early Edo period, creating simple yet powerful tsuba with only minimal piercings in the iron base. The finishing of the base possessed a unique texture called "tetsuaji," and it continues to be highly valued by sword enthusiasts. The technique was handed down through successive generations, and the Hayashi name became synonymous with Higo tsuba.
• Nishigaki family (にしがきけ): A prominent Higo metalworking lineage rivaling the Hayashi family. Known for exquisite iron base treatment and distinctive piercing and carving techniques, possessing a subtly different character from the Hayashi family.
• Hirata family (ひらたけ): Known for a distinctive style applying shippo (enamel-like glaze decoration technique) to tsuba. The combination of iron and colored glaze produced a unique luster not seen in other schools.
• Shimizu family (しみずけ): While inheriting the beauty of rugged iron bases, pursued distinctive patterns and piercing compositions.

Works by Higo metalworkers still exist in numerous museums and private collections both domestically and internationally, receiving high acclaim as representative craft art of the early Edo period.

The Goto Family—The Authority of Unified Sword Fitting Aesthetics

The Goto family, having established its foundation in the mid-Muromachi period as the pinnacle of sword fitting craftsmanship, maintained unwavering authority throughout the Edo period. The family business was handed down through 17 generations, from the founder Goto Yujo (1440–1512) to the end of the Edo period. Its position as an official purveyor to the shogunal house and daimyo transcended that of mere craftsman to become a form of "cultural authority."

The characteristic of the Goto family lies in the "unified aesthetics of sword fittings." The concept of "Gotogu" (Goto fittings)—coordinating the tsuba, menuki, fuchi, and kashira by the same artist and on the same theme—represents a particularly refined approach within Japanese metalwork art. The combination of shakudo and gold as primary materials became the symbol of the Goto family, and the contrast between shakudo's deep black and gold's luster imparts overwhelming elegance to the viewer. Moreover, the precision of high-relief carving on auspicious motifs such as bamboo, plum, pine, crane, and dragon leaves no room for comparison.

During the early Edo period, master craftsmen such as the 7th generation Goto Kenjo and 8th generation Goto Sokujō emerged, achieving further technical refinement. However, among works circulating in the market as Goto family pieces, many are works by craftsmen associated with the family (known as "Goto-style" workers) or imitations by later periods. Authentic attribution requires both sophisticated connoisseurship and documentary evidence.

The Shoami School—Precise Piercing Technique Spread Nationwide

The Shoami school, a Kyoto-based lineage that flourished greatly during the Momoyama period, remained active in various regions throughout the early Edo period. With branches in Edo, Kyoto, and Nagoya, regional characteristics developed in each location, broadly supporting samurai demand throughout the nation.

The Shoami style is characterized by "the precision of pierced work." The piercing technique that cuts complex patterns into the iron base, causing designs to emerge through the interplay of light and shadow, was the Shoami school's greatest strength. Subject matter ranged widely, from grasses and flowers to waves and geometric patterns. The finest works of the Kyoto Shoami school particularly demonstrate high refinement inherited from Momoyama period technical standards, with their elegant and delicate designs deeply reflecting the influence of court culture.

Meanwhile, Shoami masters based in Edo tended to organize designs more boldly to suit samurai preferences, creating regional variations even within the same Shoami lineage. This can be understood as the result of mutual interaction between the preferences of samurai patrons and the technical accumulated knowledge of the craftsmen.

Influences and Mutual Exchange Beyond Schools

While the three schools each refined their distinctiveness, the early Edo period metalworking world was not closed. The Goto family's high-relief technique was referenced by craftsmen of other schools, and the Shoami piercing technique influenced Higo metalworkers. It can be surmised that movement of personnel through daimyo houses and travel between Edo and the provinces via the sankin-kotai system promoted the spread of techniques and designs.

Furthermore, the connection with tea culture cannot be overlooked. As daimyo tea masters such as Matsudaira Fumai actively collected and valued metalwork, the tsuba came to be socially recognized as an "object of appreciation" alongside tea utensils. This current led to the flourishing of "tsuba appreciation aesthetics" in the later middle and late Edo periods and developed into systematic evaluation activities such as the compilation of catalogues and certificates of authenticity.

Conclusion—The Diverse Beauty Nurtured by Competition

The tsuba of the early Edo period are the products of a rich era in which three aesthetic directions competed: the rugged beauty of Higo metalwork, the precise beauty of the Goto family, and the diverse pierced beauty of the Shoami school. While each was rooted in distinct values and techniques, their common response to the shared demand for "samurai aesthetic sensibility" allowed Japanese metalwork art to reach extraordinary heights.

This diversity is the source of the profundity of Japanese sword fitting culture. When viewed not merely as a sword component but appreciated through three layers of context—historical background, the technical lineage of schools, and the patron's aesthetic sensibility—a single tsuba emerges as a microcosm reflecting the spirit of the people who lived in that age. This is precisely why contemporary collectors and researchers find inexhaustible pleasure in tsuba appreciation.