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 attributed to Sōshū Masamune, known by the name "Wakae" among Masamune's works. Its current blade length is 8.5 sun (25.75 cm), down from an original 8.7 sun; the blade was fire-damaged during the Siege of Osaka and later reforged (yakinaoshi), bringing it to its present dimensions. It is said to have originally had no curvature (mu-sori) and a hira-zukuri form.

The Origin of the Name

Two accounts explain the name. One holds that it derives from the place name Wakae in Kawachi Province. The other attributes it to ownership 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 it was also held for a time by Sogō Kazumasa (Sogō Jūzaemon), the blade is also known by the alternate name "Sogō Masamune."

Provenance

The blade was held by Sogō Kazumasa, who died in Izumi Province in 1561, and appears in a 1582 record as being in the possession of Tarao Hitachi-no-suke Tsunatomo. It later passed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was kept in his "Ichi-no-hako" (first box of treasured swords), but was fire-damaged when Osaka Castle fell. The first-generation smith Echizen Yasutsugu reforged it, at which time its mune (back ridge) was also changed from a rounded maru-mune to a standard shin-no-mune. Tokugawa Ieyasu held the blade among the Sunpu bequest items, and a 1651 record confirms 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 cultural-property designation is confirmed. It is now held by the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.