Wakae Masamune

若江正宗

Also known as: Wakae Masamune; also known as Sogō Masamune

Smith: Attributed to Masamune (mumei)
Era: Late Kamakura period (early 14th century)
Type: Tantō
Designation: Meibutsu (listed in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō)
Location: Tokugawa Art Museum (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture)

Description

Overview

Wakae Masamune is an unsigned tantō traditionally attributed to Sōshū Masamune, and it is one of the works attributed to Masamune that have been transmitted under the name "Wakae". Its current blade length is 8.5 sun (25.75 cm); originally it was 8.7 sun. After the blade was fire-damaged during the Siege of Osaka, it was reforged (yakinaoshi), which brought it to its present dimensions. It is said to have originally had no curvature (mu-sori) and a hira-zukuri form.

Origin of the Name

Two accounts are transmitted about the origin of the name. One derives it from the place name Wakae in Kawachi Province. The other attributes it to the fact that the blade was owned by Tarao Hitachi-no-suke Tsunatomo, one of the "Three Men of Wakae" (Ikeda Tango-no-kami, Tarao Hitachi-no-suke and Noma Sazen). Because the blade was also held by Sogō Kazumasa for a period, it is additionally known by the alternate name "Sogō Masamune".

Provenance

The blade was held by Sogō Kazumasa, who died in Izumi Province in 1561. A record from 1581 (Tenshō 9) lists it as being in the possession of Tarao Hitachi-no-suke Tsunatomo. It then passed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was kept in his "Ichi-no-hako" (first box), but it was fire-damaged when Osaka Castle fell. The first-generation smith Echizen Yasutsugu reforged it, and at that time the mune (back ridge) was changed from a rounded maru-mune to a shin-no-mune. Tokugawa Ieyasu held the blade as one of the items of the Sunpu bequest (Sunpu gobunmono). A record from 1651 (Keian 4) confirms that it was allotted to the Owari Tokugawa family.

Designation and Present Location

The blade is recorded in the Taikō Gyobutsu Katana-ezu (Bunroku 3 edition), the Umetada Jusai-bon, and the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō (listed as fire-damaged). No formal designation category has been confirmed. It is now held by the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.