Minamoto Kiyomaro - Minamoto no Kiyomaro

A swordsmith from the late Edo period. He was the second son of Yamaura Nobutomo, a local samurai from Komoro, Shinshu (Nagano Prefecture), and was called Kuranosuke Tamaki, with the pen name Ikkansai. At the age of 17, he and his older brother Masao studied under Kawamura Toshitaka, a swordsmith from Ueda, and initially used the names Masayuki and Hidetoshi. In 1834 (Tenpo 5), he went to Edo and honed his skills with the support of Kubota Sugane, a shogunate official, and opened up a new world for himself by aiming to emulate the style of Shizukaneuji, a master swordsmith from Mino (Gifu Prefecture) during the Nanboku-cho period. Five years later, with the help of Sugane, he started a weapons association, promising to hand out swords to members in succession for three ryo per sword, but he fled to Choshu (Yamaguchi Prefecture) without fulfilling this promise. He returned to Edo, apologized to Kiyone for his previous crimes, and began forging swords in 1845 (Koka 2). The following year, he changed his name to Kiyomaro. He settled in Yotsuya Iga-cho, and was eventually praised as "Yotsuya Masamune", but he committed suicide in 1854 (Ansei 1) due to injuries to his body and mind. He was considered the foremost master of shinshinto, and his disciples included Kurihara Nobuhide, Suzuki Masao, and Saito Kiyoto.

[Nobuo Ogasawara]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸末期の刀工。信州（長野県）小諸(こもろ)の郷士(ごうし)山浦信友の二男で内蔵助環(くらのすけたまき)といい、号は一貫斎。17歳のとき兄の真雄とともに上田の刀工河村寿隆の門に学び、初め正行、秀寿などと銘した。1834年（天保5）江戸へ出て幕臣窪田清音(くぼたすがね)の後援を得て技を磨き、南北朝時代の美濃(みの)（岐阜県）の名工志津兼氏(しづかねうじ)の作風を目標にして新天地を開いた。5年後、清音の計らいで一振り3両掛けで加入者に順次刀を渡す約束の武器講を始めたが、これを果たさずに長州（山口県）へ逃避。そしてふたたび江戸へ戻り、清音に前罪をわびて、45年（弘化2）から鍛刀を続けた。翌年、清麿と改銘。四谷(よつや)伊賀町に居を定め、やがて「四ッ谷正宗」と賞揚されたが、心身を害して54年（安政1）自刃。新々刀(しんしんとう)第一の名人とされ、弟子に栗原(くりはら)信秀、鈴木正雄、斎藤清人などがいる。

［小笠原信夫］

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