Goto Tokujo

Japanese: 後藤徳乗 - ごとう・とくじょう

Year of death: 1631
Year of birth: Tenbun 19 (1550)
A metal engraving artist of the Momoyama and early Edo periods. He was a head of the Edo Shogunate's shogunate and the eldest son of the fourth Goto clan's head, Mitsunori. Born in Kyoto. His childhood name was Genjiro, and after his father's death he inherited the legitimate title of Shirobei. When Mitsunori was a child, his grandfather Noriyoshi (the third Goto clan's head) was killed in battle, and Mitsunori's family moved to Kyushu, but in 1571 he returned to Kyoto and revived the family business of metal engraving. He served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and in 1582 he was entrusted with the important positions of bankin agame and bundoyaku, and was awarded 250 koku. Meanwhile, while managing Mino carving and silverwork, he also made a great contribution to building the foundations of the Goto workshop, which stood alongside the emerging swordsmith Uetada Akihisa family in Kyoto at the time, with his elegant style. After the Edo Shogunate came into being, he was temporarily in a difficult position, but thanks to the efforts of his younger brother Chojo (who branched off and established the Kanbei family), he and his eldest son Eijo served Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada as oban zatonin (chief samurai). Eijo became the 6th head of the family, and Kenjo the 7th, while his fourth son Takujo and fifth son Kyūjō each founded their own branch of the family.

(Kashima Masaru)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛永8(1631)
生年：天文19(1550)
桃山・江戸前期の彫金工。江戸幕府の大判座頭人。後藤家4代目光乗の嫡男。京都生まれ。幼名を源次郎,父の死後嫡流通称の四郎兵衛の名を継いだ。幼少時に祖父乗真(後藤家3代目)が戦死したため,光乗一家は九州に移ったが,元亀2(1571)年に帰京し,家業の彫金業を再興した。豊臣秀吉に仕え,天正10(1582)年に判金改めと分銅役の要職をまかされ,250石を支給された。一方家業の方でも,美濃彫りや白銀工などを管理しながら,その典雅な作風で,当時京都に新興していた刀工の埋忠明寿家と並ぶ後藤細工所の基礎を築きあげた功績は大きい。江戸幕府になってからは一時不遇だったが,弟長乗(分家して勘兵衛家を創始)の労により長男栄乗と共に徳川家康,秀忠に大判座頭人として仕えた。長男栄乗は6代目を,3男顕乗は7代目を継承し,4男琢乗と5男休乗はそれぞれ別家を創始した。

(加島勝)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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