Hyogo Moriie

兵庫守家

Also known as: Hyogo Moriie; Tachi signed Bizen no Kuni Osafune ju Moriie

Smith

Moriie

Era

Mid-Kamakura period (13th century)

Type

Tachi

Designation

Important Cultural Property

Location

The Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, Aichi

Description

The Smith Moriie

Moriie is said to have worked from around the Kencho era (1249-1256) in Hatakeda village of Bizen Province (present-day Hatakeda, Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture), and is regarded as the founder of the Bizen Hatakeda school. He was one of the master smiths who sustained the golden age of Bizen blades, and is known for the unusual number of surviving fine works: ten of his blades are designated Important Cultural Properties and six are Important Art Objects.

The Name "Hyogo Moriie"

This tachi bears the signature "Bizen no Kuni Osafune ju Moriie" and has been handed down under the name Hyogo Moriie. It is designated an Important Cultural Property and is held today by The Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya. Blades signed Moriie appear with both the Hatakeda and Osafune place names, a point of ongoing discussion regarding the school's range of activity and lineage.

Moriie as a Presentation Blade

Because the name Moriie can be read as "to protect the house," his blades were prized among warrior families as gifts for auspicious occasions. Records show that when an heir was born to the Tokugawa shogunal house, Moriie blades were presented repeatedly by the daimyo and by the Three Tokugawa Houses. It is a rare case in which the signature itself functioned as a good omen, quite apart from the blade's cutting quality or workmanship.

Position within the Bizen Tradition

The Hatakeda school arose in Bizen alongside the Fukuoka Ichimonji and Osafune schools, and is characterized by robust tachi shapes and flamboyant temper patterns. Moriie's work exemplifies the Bizen tradition, and demand for his blades as presentation swords meant that many entered daimyo collections and survived to the present in fine condition.

Legends & Stories

Because the two characters of "Moriie" can be read as "protecting the house," a custom arose among warrior families of presenting Moriie blades to celebrate a succession or the birth of an heir. It is said that each time an heir was born to the Tokugawa shogunal house, the daimyo and the Three Tokugawa Houses vied to offer works by this smith. It is a singular case in the reception history of the Japanese sword, in which the meaning of the signature rather than the blade's practical merit was what people treasured.