Many of the blades by Gô Yoshihiro (江義弘) have been given names. Yoshihiro (義弘) is considered to have been not only the best of Masamune’s famous students, but the workmanship in his blades is considered to be vary faithful to the style of Masamune (正宗), perhaps more so that any of Masamune’s other students. Blades made after his studies with Masamune (正宗) began show strong Soshu (相州) characteristics, as one would expect. Early blades such as these show a strong Yamato (大和) influence. In ancient Japan, when all famous blades were in great Daimyo collections, the populace never did get to see these blades, but heard much about them and the above saying came into being.”Īs with the smith, Shizu Kaneuji (志津兼氏), swords exist from Yoshihiro (義弘) that are dated to a time before his study under Masamune (正宗). This means that though we often read about and hear about ghosts, we never see one and the same can be said for Yoshihiro’s blades as well. “There is a saying in Japan….’one never sees a ghost or a Gô’.

In his publication, Nihonto Newsletter, Albert Yamanaka explains this phrase as follows: In fact, his blades are so rare that there is a saying in Japan, “You never see a ghost or a Gô”. I think the similarities in the works of Yoshihiro (義弘) and Norishige (則重) can be attributed to the fact that both studied under Masamune (正宗).īecause of the short life span of Gô Yoshihiro (江義弘), his authenticated blades are very scarce. However, since Norishige (則重) is also generally considered to have been one of the ten great students of Masamune (正宗), I think it much more likely that they were fellow students rather than teacher-student. Since he comes from Etchu (越中) and is a contemporary of the famous smith, Etchu Norishige (越中の則重), some feel that there may have been a teacher-pupil relationship between these two smiths. While his early works show definite Yamato (大和) characteristics, I think most scholars agree that he should be placed firmly in the Soshu (相州) tradition based upon his interaction with Masamune (正宗). There have been several theories about where in the major schools of sword making he should be placed. Even though his life was brief, he left some splendid examples of his work. Gô Yoshihiro (江義弘), died at the young age of 30 in 1330. In fact, he is generally considered to have been the best of all of Masamune’s (正宗) ten disciples. He is also recorded in the old sword reference books such as Ojakusho and Kokon Mei-zukushi as having been a direct student of Masamune (正宗) and, indeed, is recorded as being one of the famous Masamune Juttetsu or ten famous disciples of Masamune (正宗). Since the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉), Yoshihiro (義弘) is considered to have been one of the Nihon Sansaku (three great smiths of Japan), the other two being Masamune (正宗) and Awataguchi Yoshimitsu (粟田口吉光). Yoshihiro (義弘) was active around the Genô Era (元應) and that would place him toward the end of the Kamakura Era (鎌倉) and the beginning of the Nanbokucho Era (南北朝). Since olden times he has simply been known as Gô (江), the nickname taken from his place of residence. He was a Samurai of the Tomoi family and served the Matsukura (松倉) in Etchu (越中). Yoshihiro’s (義弘) given name was Matsukura Gô Umanosuke (松倉江右馬允) and he lived a short but auspicious life. Yoshihiro (義弘) is one of the most famous sword smiths of all time.

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