History has been eminently careful to preserve the names and records of the men who chiselled sword furniture. The sword being regarded as the soul of the samurai, every one who contributed to its manufacture, Sword-making Families. whether as forger of the blade or sculptor of the furniture, was held in high repute. The Gotō family worked steadily during 14 generations, and its 19th century representative—Gotō Ichijō—will always be remembered as one of the family’s greatest experts. But there were many others whose productions fully equalled and often excelled the best efforts of the Gotō. The following list gives the names and periods of the most renowned families:—
(It should be noted that the division by centuries indicates the time of a family’s origin. In a great majority of cases the representatives of each generation worked on through succeeding centuries).
15th and 16th Centuries.
Miyōchin; Gotō; Umetada; Muneta; Aoki; Sōami; Nakai.
17th Century.
| Kuwamura; Mizuno; Koichi; Nagayoshi; Kuninaga; Yoshishige; Katsugi; Tsuji; Muneyoshi; Tadahira; Shōami; Hosono; Yokoya; Nara; Okada; Okamoto; Kinai; Akao; Yoshioka; Hirata; Nomura; Wakabayashi; Inouye; Yasui; Chiyo; Kaneko; Uemura; Iwamoto. |
18th Century.
Gorobei; Shōemon; Kikugawa; Yasuyama; Noda; Tamagawa; Fujita; Kikuoka; Kizaemon; Hamano; Ōmori; Okamoto; Kashiwaya; Kusakari; Shichibei; Itō.
19th Century.
Natsuo; Ishiguro; Yanagawa; Honjo; Tanaka; Okano; Kawarabayashi; Oda; and many masters of the Ōmori, Hamano and Iwamoto families, as well as the five experts, Shuraku, Temmin, Ryūmin, Minjō and Minkoku.