Page 290 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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214 Mitokoromono sword hilt, aided the grip and provided name, Masaoku, fl. c. 1460), who served
Goto Tsújo decoration. In the Muromachi period only the eighth Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimasa
(fl. c. 1690) the Goto family produced matching mito- (1436-1490), in the Muromachi period.
shakudd and gold koromono sets, but by the middle of the Assimilating and building upon standard
length kôgai, 21.2 (83/s); kozuka (not Edo period other craftsmen began to pro- metalworking techniques, Yüjó estab-
including blade), 9.7 (37/3); menuki, duce them as well. This set was made by lished a distinct Goto style, primarily ex-
1
3.o(i /s)each the eleventh-generation Goto metalworker pressed in mitokoromono, the set of sword
Edo period, late iyth century Tsüjo (Mitsutoshi), and is characteristic of fittings consisting of the kozuka, kdgai, and
menuki (small knife, skewer, and hilt orna-
Goto school (cat.
215.)
Hiroi Akihisa Collection, Tokyo the work of the and kozuka are decorated ments; cat. 214). The Goto subsequently
Both the
kdgai
The mitokoromono, literally "things for with gold orchids in high relief on a flourished, with successive generations
three places/' is a set of metal sword fit- nanako (raised-dot) shakudd ground; the serving the Ashikaga shogunate, Toyotomi
tings with matching decorative schemes; gold menuki take the form of orchids. HY Hideyoshi, and the Tokugawa shogunate.
the set is composed of a small knife (ko- In the Edo period the Goto products be-
zuka), a skewer (kdgai), and a pair of hilt or- 215 Sword fittings by nine consecutive came known as iebori, literally "house
naments (menuki). The small knife and generations of the Goto family carvings," referring to the official status of
skewer slide into their separate openings shakudd, gold, silver the Goto as craftsmen to the shogunate, as
on either side of the sheath. The long ta- length c. 9.6 (33/4) each distinguished from other "town carving"
pered end of the kdgai was used to fix a Muromachi period-Edo period, metalwork, or machibori. In all there were
warrior's hair, while its spoon-shaped end i5th-i8th century seventeen generations of Goto, listed be-
was shaped to be used as an ear cleaner. low by artist name, followed by the given
Menuki, positioned on either side of the Fukushi Shigeo Collection, Tokyo name in parentheses and approximate pe-
riod of activity:
The founder of the Goto family of sword
ornament makers was Goto Yüjó (given

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