* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Nakagawa-Gō
中川江
Also known as: Nakagawa-Gō; attributed to Gō Yoshihiro
- Smith
- Attributed to Gō Yoshihiro (Etchū Province)
- Era
- Nanbokuchō period (14th century)
- Type
- Katana
- Designation
- Meibutsu (listed in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō)
- Location
- The location differs depending on the source.
Description
A Sword Recorded in the Kyōhō Meibutsuchō
Nakagawa-Gō is an unsigned sword (mumei-tō) that has been authenticated as a work of Gō Yoshihiro, a swordsmith of Etchū Province in the Nanbokuchō period. Its original blade length is said to have been 2 shaku 3 sun 4 bu, but it was reworked into mukori form by Tsuda Nagato-no-kami, and its current length is 2 shaku 2 sun 2 bu. Honami Kōho appraised it as a work of Gō Yoshihiro. It is one of the meibutsu recorded in the Kyōhō Meibutsuchō.
Provenance
Beginning with its possession by Oda Nobutada, the sword passed through members of the Nakagawa family, such as Nakagawa Shigemasa, Nakagawa Mitsushige (Sōhan), and Nakagawa Nagatane, then through Matsudaira Mitsunaga and Matsudaira Mitsumichi, and is said to have been passed down to the fourth shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna, and to Tokugawa Mitsutomo, second head of the Owari Tokugawa family. However, it has been pointed out that more than one sword bearing the names “Nakagawa-Gō” (中川江) and “Nakagawa-Gō” (中川郷) exists, and research into the finer details of its provenance is still ongoing.
Present Location
After passing through the Owari Tokugawa family and the shogunal family, the sword left the Tokugawa family after the end of the war. Its current location differs depending on the source.
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