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: six of his blades are designated Important Cultural Properties and five 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. Surviving blades signed Moriie bear place names such as "Osafune" or "Fukuoka" rather than "Hatakeda" itself, even though the school is conventionally called the Hatakeda school — a discrepancy that remains a point of discussion regarding the school's range of activity and lineage.

Provenance to the Tokugawa Art Museum

According to Edo-period equipment records of the Owari Tokugawa house, this tachi is presumed to have been the personal sword of Tokugawa Yoshinao, the ninth son of Ieyasu and first lord of the Owari Tokugawa house. It has remained in the Owari Tokugawa collection ever since and is held today by The Tokugawa Art Museum.

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 many of his blades entered daimyo collections and survived to the present in fine condition.

Legends & Stories

According to Edo-period equipment records of the Owari Tokugawa house, this tachi is presumed to have been the personal sword of Tokugawa Yoshinao, first lord of the Owari Tokugawa house — one of the Three Tokugawa Houses. The origin of the auspicious name "Hyogo Moriie" itself remains unclear, but the blade has been carefully preserved to the present day as a sword once carried by the head of that senior branch of the Tokugawa family.