TOSA no KAMI TADAYOSHI

1624+

 HIZEN KUNI FUJIWARA TADAYOSHI
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN TADAYOSHI SAKU
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN FUJIWARA TADAYOSHI

Circa 1624+
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN FUJIWARA MINAMOTO TADAYOSHI

1628+
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN TOSA (no) KAMI TADAYOSHI
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN TOSA (no) KAMI FUJIWARA TADAYOSHI
 HIZEN KUNI JUNIN TOSA (no) KAMI FUYJIWARA TADAYOSHI SAKU

BORN: Unknown
DIED: 5th Shortly after Shodai Tadayoshi circa 1632-4?
NAME: Hashimoto Tosa [Tosa (no) Kami]
FATHER: Unkown
Eguchi postulates he was the Head priest of the Kaji

Very little is known about Tosa (no) Kami, but we do know that when Tadayoshi 1st changed his name to Tadahiro in 1624 there could have been a problem with no-one signing "Tadayoshi". Yoshinobu was the senior son of Tadayoshi 1st, albeit adopted, and perhaps he should have received the title "Tadayoshi" because Tadahiro 2nd was too young. We know that he didn't as there are blades signed Yoshinobu dated circa 1636, and this also means that he was not the same person as Tosa. There must therefore have been a family member senior to the known sons of Tadayoshi 1st, who may even have been a brother of Tadayoshi 1st, and who signed Tadayoshi from around 1625. Fujishiro's Dictionary of Japanese Swords reportedly says that Tosa (no) Kami was known as the "younger Tadayoshi brother". There is a possibility of Sadenjiro Masanaga signing 'Tadayoshi' for a short period in 1624 before he changed his name to Masahiro, so we are talking roughly the year 1625 onwards. There is a theory that Tadayoshi 1st became very ill around the time that he changed his name to Tadahiro, and he relied very heavily on a student called Tosa. As a reward, the theory says that he gave this student the Tadayoshi name, and Tosa then signed his own blades. If you look at the "Tada" character on page 92, oshigata K. on the mei "Hizen Kuni Ju Musashi Daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro" (Tadayoshi 1st), it may be that of Tosa, which could indicate that Tosa signed dai-mei 'Tadahiro'.

There is also one reference that says the Shodai signed Tosa's first sword for him! At this time, the Hashimoto family had around 60 deshi working for them and, as we already know, they were honoured with the family name of Hashimoto. Whilst it is possible that Tosa could have been 'just ' a deshi, it is more likely that he was indeed an original high ranking family member for him to have been given the name Tadayoshi and to have signed pledges, because he effectively blocked Yoshinobu and Nidai Tadahiro from using the art name 'Tadayoshi'. According to Nagayama, Echizen Yasutsugu taught Tosa, which implies that Tadayoshi 1st may not have taught him. However, according to Hizento Hitsukei, Munetsugu taught both Tosa and the Shodai Tadayoshi and it is postulated that they were brothers. Tosa (no) Kami generally used the name "Fujiwara", whilst Tadayoshi 1st used "Minamoto". When Tadayoshi 1st changed his name to Tadahiro he then started using "Fujiwara". This may also indicate that Tosa was not only working prior to 1624 when Tadayoshi 1st changed to Tadahiro, but that Tosa may have signed Tadayoshi blades prior to 1624. Tosa did not apparently confine himself solely to the use of "Fujiwara": There are wakizashi that are signed "Hizen Kuni Junin Fujiwara Minamoto Tadayoshi"! (See page 103, oshigata A). Although it is thought that Tosa was high level family, we may never know who he really was since fires have destroyed most of the Tadayoshi family records over the years. All we are left with yet again are theories and works of art, but it appears that he may well have been an older brother of the Shodai. There is certainly much discussion and speculation on this subject!

Tadayoshi 10th, known as Kinichi, wrote some of the family history (included in my book as the Kinuko Manuscript), and he theorized that Tosa received the title Tosa (no) Jo in 1624 and must therefore have been working for years prior to this date. However the title does not appear until around 1628, which is probably...

...continued in "The School of Tadayoshi, Saga, Hizen, Japan,1598 - 1871"

Japanese music piece entitled 'Tsuki'