Omura Shigehide Wakizashi 1844

Omura (Hayashi) Shigehide Wakizashi
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NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Paper

Signed: Shigehide. Tenpo Ju Go Nen Shu
(Shigehide. 15th year of Tenpo (1844) Autumn, )

ShinShinto : Edo Period - 天保 十五年Bunkyo Era 1844 AD

NBTHK TOKUBETSU HOZON CERTIFICATE # 1018036
A sword designated as Extraordinarily Worthy of Conservation by the Society for the Preservation of the Japan Art Sword.

For a sword to receive TOKUBETSU HOZON, the sword would have had to clear the seven HOZON criteria to such a fantastic degree to realize such importance.
When swords achieve such standing, their value increases substantially.

Fujishiro Ranking : Jo Saku (Superior Made)

Blade is polished

Nagasa (Length): 51.5 cm
Sori (Curvature) : 0.4 cm
Mekugi: 1
Width at hamachi: 2.75 cm
Kasane: 6 mm
Hamon: Midare

Koshirae:
Tsuba: Unsigned. Fan Design. Edo Period
Fuchi kashira: Fuchi; side ribbed - gold band. Kashira; Horn. Edo Period
Menuki: Fishing basket with shells. Edo Period
Saya. Ribbed Bands around . Edo Period

Shirasaya:


A$10,800

Reference Markus Sesko and more:
The swordsmith known as Omura Shigehide was a samurai retainer of the Omura clan, a relatively small clan whose fief was at the edge of Hizen province which, of course was mostly ruled by the murch larger and more important Nabeshima han.

It also seems that the Omura clan were long time Christians from as early as 1562 and it is recorded that, small though they may have been, they supplied 1,000 troops for the first assault of Hideyoshi’s Korean campaign at the end of the 16th century, when they were led by Omura Yoshiaki.

There is no record of swordsmiths working for the Omura clan in the Shinto period; Tamon or Hayashi Shigehide was not really known about to the sword world until a lecture by Ikushima Rintaro in 1929 when he introduced Shigehide’s biography to the To-ken Kenyukai (sword study group).

Omura Shigehide - Shodai.(The First) The Shodai’s personal name was Hayashi Tamon (林多門, (1808-1873), he was born in 1808 into a samurai family retained by the Omura daimyo. As Omura was close to Nagasaki, the young Shigehide was aware of the Nambam-sen or foreign ships, which were constantly docking there and this caused him to realise the importance that swords would shortly become to his clan. He could foresee trouble in the near future and it was of great concern to him that there were no swordsmiths in the Omura clan. The insecurity that he felt decided him to become a swordsmith.

According to the Shinshinto Taikan, Shigehide became a pupil of Suishinshi Masahide but this does not seem likely as Shigehide’s working dates seem too late for an association with the Shodai.
Hizen-to no Tsuba confirms that Masahide was already “gone” by the time Shigehide started making swords, however, Masahide was followed by Taikei Naotane who was very famous in Edo at this time.
Shigehide applied to go to Edo on the clan’s Sakin Kotai (alternate year’s attendance on the shogunate court) and whilst there he studied under Naotane while his lord and fellow retainers discharged their duty at the shogun’s court.
He accompanied the clan on Sakin Kotai six times in all which means he studied under Taikei Naotane 大慶直胤 for about 1500 days in total.

He was an excellent pupil and learned swordmaking very quickly, also making swords whilst he was back home in Omura fief 大村藩 and focused on copies of Muramasa Blades.

*** Muramasa (村正was a Japanese master swordsmith.
Various legends portray Muramasa as being wild and unpredictable. Supposedly, his madness was so great that he needed to transfer it into his work to stop himself from being overwhelmed. As a result, Muramasa swords have earned a reputation for being cursed. His katanas were meant to cause bloodlust and force their wielders to kill indiscriminately. ***

Reports say that the Shigehide swords made like Muramasa 村正 blades were very popular among Nabeshima Samurai because Muramasa swords had been admired there since the time of Katsushige.

Some say that he also went to Bizen Osafune (in present day Okayama prefecture) to learn study swordmaking but this is doubtful, although he did make swords in a choji – midare and he did become skilled in the Bizen style.

The lord of the Omura clan, Matsudaira Tadakazu patronised and supported Shigehide in his sword making endeavours and Shigehide soon became well known in Omura as a good swordsmith.

He is known to have made swords for Matsubayashi Iizan and Watanabe Noburo, both well known as Kin-no or Emperor supporters in the Bakumatsu period. (Matsubayashi was a very well educated man and became head master of the Omura han’s school at the age of 21. Watanabe was an eccentric with a peculiar sense of humour. He used to walk the streets at night with a lantern suspended on the tsukagashira of his sword – “to bring light into the dark world”! A diminutive man he had a small wheel attached to the kojiri of his saya so that it could drag along the ground as he walked, apparently an idea that had been introduced early in the Edo period!)

The Meiji Ishin in 1868 changed many things in Japan, not least of which was “Taito no Jiyu” (free of sword wearing for everyone, including samurai). This was a great shock to Shigehide but, of course, he was powerless to do anything about it. On 5th December 1873 he died and was cremated. His ashes were interred in the Omura family temple, the Hongyo-ji, and his name was registered as Hayashi Tamon Fujiwara Shigehide.

Other examples of Shigehide’s Mei are: Omura Han Shigehide. Omura hanshi Shigehide. Omura Han Hayashi Shigehide. Toto ni oite Hayashi Shigehide kore o Tsukuru (made whilst in Edo).
He often included Haru (spring) or Shu (autumn) in his date inscriptions.

This superb sword was first registered in Heisei 3rd year (1991) 12 month, 14 day.
A strong indication that it was kept as a family heirloom for over 147 year