Tachi Signed Umetada Myoju
太刀 銘 埋忠明寿
Also known as: Tachi inscribed "Yamashiro no Kuni Nishijin ju-nin Umetada Myoju... Keicho 3, not to be passed to others"
Description
The Meaning of the Inscription
This tachi bears the long signature "Yamashiro no Kuni Nishijin ju-nin Umetada Myoju" followed by the date formula "Keicho 3, eighth month; not to be passed to others." The phrase means that the blade was not to be handed outside the family, and the inscription itself testifies that Myoju regarded this as a masterwork to be kept and transmitted within his own house. It was designated an Important Cultural Property on 29 August 1950 (Showa 25).
The Umetada Family and the Founder of Shinto Swordsmithing
The Umetada family had for generations specialized in sword fittings (kinko metalwork), and Myoju was the rare figure within that family who took up blade-forging in earnest and produced work of the highest order. He is placed among the figures who opened the "shinto" (new sword) era that began in the Momoyama and early Edo periods, and is revered as a founding father of shinto swordsmithing.
Style
The blade measures 64.7 cm in length with a shallow curvature of 1.4 cm. The steel is finely and carefully forged, reflecting the meticulous finish expected of a smith born into a family of metalworkers. Myoju was particularly noted for his suguha (straight temper), characterized by fine, evenly distributed nie along a clear, bright habuchi.
Current Custody
The blade is held by the Kyoto National Museum and is presented as one of the museum's notable pieces. Other works by Myoju are held at the Tokyo National Museum and the Nagoya City Museum among others, but this piece, with its unusually informative inscription, is counted as one of the benchmark works for Myoju scholarship.
Position in Sword History
Standing at the turning point between koto and shinto swordsmithing, Myoju's work anticipated the shinto-era view of the sword as an object of artistic and decorative value beyond its function as a weapon. Together with Horikawa Kunihiro, he is today highly regarded as one of the representative smiths of the dawn of the shinto era.
Legends & Stories
The unusual clause "not to be passed to others" appended to the signature reveals something of Myoju's pride as a smith. For a man born into a family of metalworkers who nonetheless achieved the highest level in blade-forging itself, this sword represented the honor of his house, and it has been handed down as a symbol of the standing the Umetada family achieved in swordmaking thereafter.