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OverviewHistorical importanceDesignationsKanteiWork TypesSignaturesLineageSchool
  1. Schools
  2. Akasaka
  3. Akasaka
  4. Tadashige

Akasaka Tadashige

忠重

Jūyō
Vol. 51, No. 231 · Tsuba

Akasaka Tadashige

忠重

5 ranked works

Major artist
ProvinceMusashiEraMid-late Edo (c. 1730–1816)PeriodEdoSchoolAkasakaTraditionIron-tsubaGenerationbranch founderTeacherTadatokiSpecialtiestsubaTypeTosogu MakerCodeAKS003
5Jūyō Tōken

Overview

Tayuemon Tadashige was a tsubako of the Akasaka school, the lineage of makers who relocated from Kyoto to Akasaka in at the beginning of the period and flourished there until the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. Tadashige entered the workshop of the fourth-generation master Tadatoshi during the latter's final active years; in practical terms, however, his training was conducted under the fifth-generation Tadatoshi. He proved remarkably long-lived, with signed works from his later career bearing the inscription "made by Tadashige at the age of eighty-four," and his skill has been praised as among the most accomplished of the Akasaka masters active from the mid- period onward. His eldest son, (忠好), is known to have executed - works on his behalf in these advanced years.

Tadashige's follow the established Akasaka constructional idiom — iron plates forged with the school's characteristic sanmai-awase (three-plate composite lamination), finished with a moderately raised at the center, broadening connecting webs near the rim for visual stability, and a customary rounded edge. Within this framework, his iron displays what the describes as "superb forging" and a patinated sabiiro "rich in character" with a "distinctive sheen" that appears "clear and fresh." His openwork () is distinguished by keen cutting edges and crisp, incisive carving, while fine-line engraving evokes atmosphere and scent in his naturalistic compositions — plum beneath blue moonlight, aged pine branches, sacred deer within shrine precincts.

The identifies Tadashige as outstanding in design even within a school celebrated for the novelty of its compositions, crediting him with a "progressive temperament" that led him to incorporate decorative pattern ideas associated with Ogata Korin. His inventions, such as the "three-tiered matsukaze" motif, are noted as having no precedent even among . Across the designated works, the evaluative language is remarkably consistent: "large in scale and dignified," "strikingly innovative," "exceptionally well-balanced and notably distinguished." Tadashige's achievement lies in his synthesis of Akasaka orthodoxy with an enterprising creative spirit, producing openwork of "pronounced dignity and distinction" that the regards as fully displaying "the characteristic strengths of Akasaka work, whose true specialty is a stylish and tasteful openwork aesthetic."

Historical importance

Where Tadashige stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.

随一
Foremost
屈指
Leading
有数
Major
著名
Notable

Select a lens to see how it's measured.

Designations

Kokuhō—
Jūyō Bunkazai—
Jūyō Bijutsuhin—
Gyobutsu—
Tokubetsu Jūyō—
Jūyō Tōken5

Elite Standing

Kantei

Work Types

Distribution across 5 ranked works

Signatures

Signature types across 5 ranked works

Currently Available

Lineage

TeacherTadatoki
Tadashige
Student
  1. 1.Tadanori忠則1 for sale

Akasaka School

Other artisans of the Akasaka school

  1. 1.Tadamasa忠正1 for sale7designated
  2. 2.Tadayoshi忠好1designated

Tadashige

Tadashige(忠重) was a maker of Japanese sword fittings (tōsōgu) of the Akasaka school in Musashi province, active during the Mid-late Edo (c. 1730-1816) period.

The work follows the Iron-tsuba tradition.

Designated works by Tadashige include 5 Jūyō.