The Yoshihara TraditionPaul Martin

The Yoshihara Tradition

“The Japanese sword is a symbol of bushido, and signifies the spirit of Japan”From a sword inscription by Yoshihara Kuniie dated 1944

As Dr. Sato Kanzan is known to the sword world as the saviour of Japanese swords fromdestruction by the allied forces, so Kurihara Hikosaburo (Akihide) is known as thesaviour of Japanese swordmaking. Born in Kanma, Tochigi prefecture in 1879,Kurihara’s interest in Japanese swords stemmed from his childhood. His father, a keensword enthusiast, invited a prominent member of the Inagaki family of swordsmiths tothe forge he had built on his estate.

During his adolescent life, through a politician friend of his father, he went to live inTokyo with Okuma Shigenobu (a future Japanese Prime Minister) whilst he attendedAoyama Gakuin, a famous Tokyo English school. He later went on to become a memberof the national diet (parliament). As a politician, he had a reputation for being quiteflamboyant. He once brought a live snake into parliament and threw it at a member of theopposition during a heated debate.

Like his father, Kurihara, concerned that the traditional craft of Japanese sword makingwas being lost, was eager to remedy the situation. The craft had suffered somewhat sincethe hatorei decree during the Meiji period, which banned the wearing of swords bysamurai in public. The demand for swords had steadily decreased since that time and thenumber of swordsmiths had decreased along with it. In 1933 the Japanese governmentrealised the craft was endangered. The Prime Minister, Saito Makoto, aware ofKurahara’s knowledge and enthusiasm for Japanese sword making, asked him toundertake a project devoted to increasing the number of Japanese swordsmiths.Kurihara’s answer was to open the Nipponto Tanren Denshu Jo (Japanese Sword ForgingInstitute) on the grounds of his estate in Akasaka, Tokyo on the 5th of July 1933.

Kurihara had no real formal training as a swordsmith, but enjoyed the yaki-ire process ofquenching the blade. As a result, he became quite specialized in this aspect of swordmaking. Despite the fact that he lacked formal training, Kurihara, took the art name ofAkihide, and placed himself in the position of Head Chief Instructor of the Denshujo. Heemployed another swordsmith, Beppu Kiyoyuki, as Chief Instructor. Kiyoyuki’s time atthe Denshujo was quite short, as he too was not a fully-fledged swordsmith. He’d hadsome training, and was accustomed to working with tamahagane (the type of steelproduced for Japanese making), but this was mainly due to his formal training as atoolmaker.

In 1934, Kurihara invited one of the most famous smiths of the period, Ikkansai KasamaShigetsugu, to become the chief instructor of the Denshujo. This was perhaps the mostinfluential smith to teach there in its entire history. He also had the greatest impact on thestudents and teachers alike. Shigetsugu, born Kasama Yoshikazu on April 1, 1886 inShizuoka, started his apprenticeship under his uncle Miyaguchi Shigetoshi in 1899. In1903 he entered the Tokiwamatsu Token Kenkyujo, on the estate of Toyama Mitsuru, to

study under Morioka Masayosh. Later he went on to study metallurgy whilstcollaborating with Dr. Tawara Kuniichi in formal research on the composition ofJapanese swords. Tazawa built a special laboratory in Tokyo University for the project.The results were published in a book called Nihonto no Kagakuteki Kenkyu (ScientificResearch of the Japanese Sword), which remains to this day a definitive scientific workon the subject.

First Graduating class of the Denshujo. Front Row far left: Kasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu; 3rd from left:Toyama Mitsuru, 4th from the left: Kurihara Hikosaburo (Akihide); far right: Kiyoyuki Beppu; 2nd fromright: Dr Tazawa Kuniichi. Back row—far right: Yoshihara Kuniie; 2nd from right: Yoshihara Masahiro; 6th

from right: Yoshihara Kuninobu.

Shigetsugu worked mainly in the Bizen and Soshu traditions of swordmaking, whichinfluenced many of the Denshujo’s students’ later work. It is recorded that full-timestudents of the Denshujo received the character Aki (昭) from Kurihara (Akihide) to useas part of their Denshujo art names, whereas some direct students of Shigetsugu havebeen allowed to use ‘Ikkansai’(一貫斎) or ‘Tsugu’(継). This may not be a clear definitionof terms as many of the “Aki” smiths also would have learned their skills fromShigetsugu during his term as chief instructor.

As well as a master swordsmith, Shigetsugu was also a very skilled carver of horimono(decorative blade carving). He often made swords on the estate of Toyama Mitsuru, aright-wing nationalist and founder of the Black Dragon Society. A recently rediscoveredblade made by Shigetsugu on Mitsuru’s estate had been commissioned byNagamatsubara Hiroshi of Nihon University. This sword was a gift for the GovernorGeneral of Germany–Adolf Hitler–and was inscribed accordingly. The sword also hadone of Shigetsugu’s wonderful horimono, one of the five Buddhist Kings of Light from

esoteric Buddhism– Fudo Myo-O (Acala). Fudo Myo-O, The Immovable, is the patrondeity of Japanese swordsmen. He has a fierce expression whilst clutching his sword in hisright hand and a rope in his left and is surrounded by a halo of flames. The rope is to bindthe enemies of enlightenment, while his sword, with a three-pronged Buddhist ritualinstrument called a vajra as the handle, is to cut through the illusionary world to theultimate reality. Below this fierce exterior is an immovable nature, to which swordsmenwish to aspire.

Ikkansai Kasama Shigetsugu was only to work at the Denshujo for two years. It wouldseem there was some kind of disagreement between Shigetsugu and Kurihara. This couldhave been for a number of reasons. Shigetsugu was an accomplished prominentcontemporary swordsmith. Kurihara, on the other hand, had never been fully trained inthe craft. However, as is traditional within Japanese crafts, teachers have licence to signstudents’ works. As Kurihara was the leader of the Denshujo, it was probable that heperformed yaki-ire on his students’ swords and signed them as his own work. Therefore,it is likely this was also the case with some of Shigetsugu’s swords. This was probably athorn in the side of a smith of Shigetsugu’s expertise. There are also indications of a cashflow problem, which included Shigetsugu’s wages. The Denshujo was a self-financedorganisation, which was initially started through sponsorship. Kurihara, at times, had tosell some of his own belongings to continue the project.

As the rift between these two very strong characters grew, Shigetsugu taught at theDenshujo less, until in 1935, he stopped attending completely. This did not favor at allwell with Kurihara, who was a very prominent figure in the sword world and as an ex-politician, was extremely well connected in high society. He used his influence to try tokeep Shigetsugu out of the spotlight by not including him in his monthly publication thathe produced called Nihonto Oyobi Nihon Shumi (Japanese Swords and JapaneseHobbies). This was a current events publication for sword enthusiasts. The publicationstarted a year after the initial split and continued through to 1945, so it is very surprisingto see one of the period’s greatest smiths and former Chief Instructor of the Denshujorarely mentioned within the publication. In response, Shigetsugu boycotted any swordevents arranged by Kurihara. This doesn’t seem to have affected Shigetsugu tooadversely, as he still made swords for members of the imperial family and on the estate ofone of Kurihara’s good friends, Toyama Mitsuru, with whom he went on to co-found theTokyo Swordsmiths Association. Shigetsugu died in 1966. He was 80 years old.

At the end of the allied occupation Kurihara once again was an important factor in therevival of swordmaking, successfully petitioning the government for the resumption ofsword manufacture. You will find that most of the smiths today would be able to tracetheir lineage through Kurihara or his work to keep swordmaking alive in the early andmid parts of the 20th century. Living National Treasures Miyairi Akihira and AmataAkitsugu are only two of the post-war swordsmiths who have been touched by Kurihara’sefforts.

Yoshihara Kuniie 1st Generation – 吉原国家初代　（1894-1970)

The first student to sign up at the Nipponto Tanren Denshu Jo was 38 year old YoshiharaKatsukichi, who would later become known as Kuniie. Born on July 26, 1894 at the footof Mt. Tsukuka in Ibaraki prefecture, Kuniie was the son of a seventh generation hardedge toolmaker. Although expected to continue the family business in Ibaraki, he movedto Tokyo, where he completed his toolmaking apprenticeship. Kuniie spent the nexttwenty years concentrating on developing his own tool manufacturing business, raisinghis family, and preparing his son Masahiro to succeed the family business, until one dayhe saw an advertisement placed in a national newspaper by Kurihara seeking apprenticeswordsmiths. This appealed greatly to Kuniie as he had already tried to make swords onhis own, and (through his toolmaking experience) understood the mechanics oftamahagane very well. He immediately responded to the advertisement and was acceptedas the first official student of The Nipponto Tanren Denshujo in the fall of 1933. Kuniie’syounger brother, Kuninobu (given name Shinsaburo) and his son, Masahiro (sword artname Masazane) also joined the Denshujo shortly after him. With the increased Japanesemilitary activity in China and an impending second world war, being a swordsmith wasfast becoming a secure way of making a living.

.

Outside Kuniie’s home and workshop in Setagaya. Masazane stands behind Kuniie Both Yoshindo andShoji were born here.

Kuniie’s first instructors at the Denshujo were Kurihara and Kiyoyuki. It is unlikelyhowever, that Kiyoyuki was able to teach him very much about sword production, asKiyoyuki had not served a real swordsmith’s apprenticeship and Kuniie was at leastKiyoyuki’s equal in tool manufacture. Kuniie was given the art name ‘Akihiro’ byKurihara. He also used this name whilst teaching at the Nihonto Gakuin and at the forgeof Toyama Mitsuru. However, Kuniie’s real mentor in swordmaking techniques wasKasama Ikkansai Shigetsugu. He was taught by Shigetsugu the fundamentals of makingswords in the Bizen and Soshu traditions. Many of Kuniie’s extant works are in the Bizenand Soshu traditions, as are Shigetsugu’s. Kuniie also worked in the style of Kiyomaro, afamous Edo period smith.

After graduating in the first class from the Denshujo, Kuniie quickly cultivated a goodreputation. As his skills were in great demand, he soon became an instructor at variousinstitutions. In 1937, he became an auxiliary teacher of the Kyushu University KingakubuNihonto Kenkyujo. The following year, he opened his own workshop, the Nihon SoTanrenjo, at his residence in Setagaya, Tokyo. Around the early 1940’s Kuniie wasworking part-time in many places. He was also a contract smith for the Japanese Imperialarmy (Rikugun Jumei Tosho). Following in his mentor’s footsteps, he became aninstructor smith at the forge on the grounds of Toyama Mitsuru’s estate (theTokiwamatsu Tanren Kenkyu Jo in Shibuya, Tokyo) after Shigetsugu had moved on toanother venue. In 1941, Kuniie was appointed by Kurihara as chief instructor of thenewly formed Nihonto Gakuin (Japanese Sword Institute) at Sagamihara-cho, Zama

Opening ceremonies at the Nipponto Gakuin. Kuniie demonstrating tameshiigiri.

(Sobudai), Kanagawa Prefecture. As part of the opening day ceremonies he gave ademonstration of tameshiigiri (cutting test).

By 1943 Kuniie had gone on to become a swordsmith instructor for the Japanese ImperialArmy at the Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun Zoheisho, the military arsenal in Akabane, Tokyo.Here he chose to use yet another art name—Nobutake. His job was to train army smithsand inspect and acquire swords made in the kanto region (Tokyo and surrounding areas).The swords he made there are usually inscribed 'Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun ZoheishoYoshihara Nobutake’ (see example - page ?).

The opening ceremony of the forge at the Tokyo Dai Ichi Rikugun Zoheisho.

Various Inscriptions used by Yoshihara Kuniie

Akihiro Akihiro (sosho-mei) Kuniie Kuniie (sosho-mei) Nobutake

Kuniie inspecting his work.

Kuniie was famous for his skill at performing cutting tests

Kuniie at his forge in Katsushika-ku

Kuniie and another smith performing Shinto rituals and making swords at the Nipponto Gakuin

The Nihonto Gakuin was closed at the end of WWII in 1945. At that time the alliedoccupational forces enforced a ban on swordmaking and related activities. During thisperiod Kuniie returned to toolmaking, starting a very successful crowbar manufacturingbusiness with his son Masahiro. In 1953, when the ban was lifted, Kuniie returned to thecraft. However, as the Japanese economy was in bad shape, he did not produce verymany swords, concentrating instead on his original profession as a toolmaker.

In 1955, eighteen years after beginning his apprenticeship (due to the new laws onswordsmithing that were enforced by the post-occupation Japanese government) Kuniiewas forced to apply for and obtain a swordsmith’s licence. By 1964 the economy hadrecuperated somewhat and he was able to leave the family business in the hands of hisson Masahiro and return to swordsmithing full-time. However, from this time on he didnot produce very many swords, but spent his time training his new apprentice ShimizuTadatsugu and his two grandchildren Yoshindo and Shoji in the craft. Kuniie passedaway in 1970 at the age of 76.

Kuniie was a major driving force of swordsmithing in the Showa period. He believed thata good swordsmith hones one’s skill by making many blades—not mass producingworks, but concentrating on the nuance of the swordmaking process. His legacy enduresthrough the skill of some of the top swordsmiths in Japan today. Four of the smiths in hislineage have been appointed mukansa, an accolade that places them among the elite oftheir field.

Kuniie inspecting a blade in 1969.

Kuninobu forging swords with Masahiro as sakite (hammer-man) inthe rear right of the picture

Yoshihara Kuninobu 吉原國辰　(1899-1983)

There is not much information available aboutKuninobu. He had no children to succeed him and duringthe post war turmoil and the looming allied occupation inJapan, many records were lost or destroyed to preventthe information getting into the hands of the alliedforces. Kuninobu followed his older brother (Kuniie) toTokyo from Ibaraki searching for work as a toolmaker.Both he and Kuniie’s son Masahiro joined The NippontoTanren Denshujo shortly after Kuniie. Although heinitially signed his work ‘Akimitsu’, he opted for thename Kuninobu around 1939—around the same time hisbrother changed his name to Kuniie. Kuninobu alsoworked at the Nihonto Gakuin. As was the case withmany smiths, the poor post war economy and the alliedoccupation’s ban on any sword-related activitiesprevented him from returning to swordmaking However,despite his relatively short period as a swordsmith, thereare still quite a few extant works of Kuninobu.

Yoshihara Masazane吉原将博（正真、国家二代）(1917-1980)

Yoshihara Masahiro was the son of Kuniie and father toYoshindo and Shoji (Kuniie III). Masahiro was also amember of the Denshujo and the Nihonto Gakuin.Masahiro originally signed swords as Masazane (正真).He briefly took the Akihiro name in 1939, the year afterhis father had changed his name to Kuniie, but returnedto using Masazane the following year. Masahiro madeswords in the styles of the Horikawa school, the MishinaSchool, Bizen den and in the style of Kiyomaro.Masahiro only made swords until 1945, when the alliedforces banned swordmaking. It was at this time thatMasahiro returned to the toolmaking business with hisfather and began making crowbars. However, in 1953,when the ban was lifted, he did not return to the craft likehis father, but continued to work as a toolmaker and trainhis son Yoshindo in the family business. This was thefate of many smiths who stopped producing swords atthe end of the war. These smiths are known as the ‘lostgeneration’.

Although Masahiro never produced any swords himself after the war, he actually appliedfor and obtained his swordsmith’s licence in 1976 in the art name of Kuniie. There havebeen a few occasions however, when Yoshindo and Shoji have produced blades in thestyle of their father and signed Kuniie. This is a common practice within swordsmithschools in Japan, as these blades are considered daisaku: made in the same style of theteacher and signed in his name with his full permission—typically by his students. Hedied in 1980 aged 62. His extant works are quite rare.

Shimizu Tadatsugu 清水忠次　　(1921-1998)

Shimizu Tadatsugu often signed his blades with the threecharacter inscription ‘Tadatsugu saku’ (made byTadatsugu). He became an apprentice to Kuniie I in 1963and obtained his swordsmith’s licence in 1968. Workingin the soshu style, he particularly favored the Samonjischool of Chikuzen provence from the Nanbokuchoperiod (1333-1392). He also produced works in the styleof Kiyomaro.

In 1969 he entered the Nihon Bijutsu Token HozonKyokai’s Shinsaku-meitoten (Modern Swordsmiths’Exhibition), but did not win an award until the followingyear. He went on to win the Award for Effort four times,the Award for Excellence three times, and the NyusenAward once.

The official opening ceremony party of the Nihonto Tanren Dojo. Front row; 4th from left Honami Kohaku,7th Dr Sato Kanzan, Yoshindo, Kunzan Homma, Shoji. Back row 11th from right Nobuo Ogasawara

The Nihonto Tanren Dojo

On June 16, 1971, in honor of their grandfather, Yoshindo and Shoji opened the NihontoTanren Dojo; a swordsmith workshop on the grounds very close to where theirgrandfather’s workshop had been in Katsushika-ku, Tokyo. At this time the Japaneseeconomy had been recovering from its post-war depression, interest in swords hadregained its popularity, and collectors were once again able to afford such luxuries.However, making a living as a swordsmith was still a tough route to take. In spite of this,Yoshindo and Shoji closed the crowbar business and took their chances as full-timeswordsmiths.

The Nihonto Tanren Dojo was opened with full ceremony and attended by the mostinfluential scholars of the Japanese sword world. Dr Sato Kanzan and Homma Kunzan(Junji), the directors of the NBTHK, were the principle guests, along with HonamiKohaku, whose family had been appraising swords since the 15th century. Also inattendance was a young Nobuo Ogasawara, a future great scholar and senior curator ofJapanese swords at Tokyo National Museum. Inside the dojo there is a plaque hanging onthe wall. It is handwritten and signed in the calligraphy of Dr. Sato Kanzan. It reads ‘Kotenasu hyaku ren tetsu’ (with a hundred times forging, comes good steel). Yoshindo hashad many visitors to the workshop, including a one-time visit by Sweden’s monarch KingCarl XVI Gustaf. The Yoshihara brothers originally shared this forge, but Shoji currentlyhas his own forge at his residence in Nishi Mizumoto.

Yoshihara Yoshindo 吉原義人

Yoshindo was born in Tokyo on the 21st of February1943. Yoshindo didn’t join his brother and grandfather inthe workshop full-time until he was 24 years old. Eventhough he had spent much time in the workshop with hisgrandfather from the age of 9, as the eldest son it was hisresponsibility to help his father continue the familybusiness of tool manufacture. Yoshindo, along with hisbrother Shoji, had become a licensed smith in 1965.They made a great impact on the Japanese sword world.They were both young and dynamic, having gainedswordmaking experience from an early age. In 1973Yoshindo was the first-ever winner of the PrinceTakamatsu Award at the national swordsmithingcompetition (Shinsakumeitoten). As a result he receiveda request to perform cutting tests with the award-winningblade before the Prince. The Prince had wanted to ensurethat modern swords would excel functionally as well asaesthetically before giving the award. Once the test hadbeen completed, the Prince (convinced of their cuttingability) never requested a cutting test again. Yoshindowent on to win the Takamatsu Award on a further twooccasions.

Yoshindo performing tameshigiri (test cutting) in front of Prince Takamatsu in 1973

In 1980 Yoshindo was invited to Dallas, Texas, where he demonstrated sword forging forover a month. The following year, the swords he made in Dallas were purchased by theBoston and New York Metropolitan Museums. In 1982, after winning first prizes seventimes at the annual swordmaking competition, Yoshindo was awarded the rank ofMukansa (above competition level). On two occasions he received orders for his swordsfrom Japan’s premier shrine, Ise Jingu. The swords were made with full ceremony ofShinto ritualism and are considered ‘sacred swords’.

In 1987, he co-wrote the first of three books with his American friends, Leon and HirokoKapp—a definitive sword book in English, called “The Craft of the Japanese Sword”.Yoshindo has also featured in numerous documentary programs. In one such video, asword made by Yoshindo was used in a test cutting demonstration on a Japanese samuraihelmet. It cut 5 centimeters into the helmet with no damage to the sword.

In 1998 Yoshindo and Shoji were made intangible cultural properties of the ward inwhich they live, Tokyo’s Katsushika ward. In March, 2004, Yoshindo was elevated to thelevel of Tokyo no mukei bunkazai, or intangible cultural property of Tokyo. He receivedhis award with due ceremony at the civic center in Tokyo. He has made blades for severalnational institutions and exhibited at many venues in Japan. Yoshindo has also been agreat ambassador for swordmaking outside of Japan. He has given extendeddemonstrations of forging and lectures all over America, exhibited at several privategalleries and has had swords displayed in The New York Metropolitan and Boston

Museums. Yoshindo has also built forges in Dallas and San Francisco in an effort tofurther understanding of the Japanese sword in the west. He travels regularly to theUnited States to support Japanese sword events and attend knife shows. Yoshindocontinues to head the Yoshihara family of smiths from the Nihonto Tanren Dojo, wherehe currently has three apprentices in training.

Yoshindo performing yaki ire – The quenching process

Yoshihara Shoji (Kuniie III)吉原荘二　（国家三代）Yoshihara Shoji is the grandson of Kuniie, son ofMasahiro, and the younger brother of Yoshindo. Shojialso uses the art name Kuniie, and is a third generationYoshihara smith, as is Yoshindo. Shoji however, beganmaking swords before Yoshindo, working from a youngage in the forge with their grandfather while Yoshindocontinued the family business of tool production withtheir father Masahiro (Kuniie II). Shoji, after graduatingfrom high school, chose to work at a car dealership forsix months, before deciding to return to the workshopwith his grandfather to become a full-time swordsmith.Shoji initially used his own name to sign his work untilhe took the Kuniie name in 1982 after being awarded therank of mukansa. Before taking the name Kuniie he alsooccasionally used the name Tsuneie, particularly duringthe years 1970 to 1972. Shoji’s early styles of forging arein the soshu tradition and in the styles of Kiyomaro andKotetsu. He later changed to the Bizen tradition.

Shoji was the youngest ever recipient of the Award forEffort in 1966 when he was 21, and went on five yearslater to be the youngest ever recipient of one of the firstprizes, the Mainichi Newspaper Award, when he was 26.When he was 37, he was awarded the title of mukansa in

A young Shoji making swords On the set of the last samurai.

1982. Before becoming mukansa, Shoji has received many accolades: Bunkacho Director’s Awardthree times; NBHTK Honorary Chairman Award three times; the Kunzan Award; the Kanzan Award;the Award for Excellence twice; and the Award for Effort twice. Shoji has also taken orders for hisswords from Ise shrine and was designated an Important Living Cultural Property in the ward wherehe lives, Katsushika ward, Tokyo.

In 2002 he played a cameo role in the Warner Brothers movie The Last Samurai as the villageswordsmith to the local warlord. Because of this recognition Hollywood celebrities have visited hisworkshop and purchased his swords. He is currently an appointed swordsmith instructor for theNBTHK, an instructor of first stage sword polishing for swordsmiths, and deputy head of the AllJapan Swordsmiths Association, and seventh dan in the art of iaido: the art of drawing and cuttingwith a Japanese sword. He continues work from his workshop, the Nihon So Tanto Jo (named afterhis grandfather’s forge in Setagaya, where he was born) at his residence in Nishi Mizoguchi.

Ono Yoshimitsu 大野義光

Ono Yoshimitsu was born Yoshikawa Mitsuo in Niigata on October 16, 1948. He apprenticed himself toYoshindo and Shoji Yoshihara at the Nihonto Tanren Dojo in 1969. He was trained by both brothersduring his apprenticeship but was given the Yoshi character from Yoshindo along with mitsu for hisswordsmith name by the late Dr. Kanzan Sato. He received his swordsmith’s licence in 1975. In 1976after finishing his apprenticeship, he returned to Niigata and opened his own workshop.

In 1984 and 1989 he received orders for his swords from Ise shrine. These ‘sacred swords’ were madewith due ceremony. Yoshimitsu became a mukansa smith in 1987 after winning the Prince TakamatsuAward four times in a row (five times in total). In 1991, the Hayashibara Art Museum in OkayamaPrefecture held an exhibition solely devoted his work. It was entitled Ono Yoshimitsu’s World of JukaChoji. Yoshimitsu went on to appear in a television program produced in English by the HayashibaraFoundation. Entitled Takumi, it focuses on the spirituality of the Japanese sword and its links with otherareas of Japanese culture. In 1994 he received an order for a tachi from the Shosoin in Nara. Theoriginal Shosoin had been an imperial repository since 756 AD.

Yoshimitsu is so enthralled by the Yamatorige (a Japanese national treasure ko bizen tachi) that hedevotes much of his swordsmithing time to recreating it over and over in a spiritual search for the way inwhich the blade was originally produced. It is not an exact copy. He has modified some of the featuresto suit his own interpretation, but the essence of the original strongly remains. Yoshimitsu’s researchinto swordmaking does not stop there. In a further effort to recreate the visual appearance of olderblades, he has similarly forged works polished by different schools and by varying standards of polishersin order to analyze the effects on the finished blades. He conducts this research at his own expense.Yoshimitsu continues to make swords and pursue making the Yamatorige at his forge in Niigata and theHayashibara Museum forge in Okayama.

Shinohara Yoshihiro 篠原義廣

Unfortunately, Shinohara Koji (art name Yoshihiro) is asmith who has been forced to temporarily stop makingswords and become the proprietor of an izakaya(Japanese bar) in order to earn a living.

Born in 1949 in Saitama prefecture, he had beeninterested in Japanese swords from childhood. He joinedthe Yoshihara Nihonto Tanren Dojo in 1972, and wenton to complete his apprenticeship. Although Shinoharareceived his swordsmith’s licence in 1977, he stayed atthe studio until 1979, when he felt confident enough toopen his independent forge in Saitama.

In 1978 his first entry into the NBTHK’s Annualexhibition won the Award for Effort. In 1980 and 1981,Shinohara won the Nyusen Award (deemed worthy ofexhibition). He went on to win yet another Award forEffort in 1982, but around this time had to stop makingswords for economic reasons. He hopes to return toswordmaking in the near future.

Fujimoto Yoshihisa 藤本義久

Fujimoto Kazuhisa was born June 23, 1962. He enteredthe Yoshihara studio as an apprentice in 1979 andreceived his swordsmith’s licence by 1984. Once hegraduated from the Yoshihara studio, he opened his ownforge in Okayama prefecture and took the art nameYoshihisa. Since opening his own forge he continues towork in the Bizen tradition, particularly in the style ofthe Ichimonji school.

He frequently gives forging demonstrations at theHayashibara Museum in Okayama. Yoshihisa hasregularly received awards at the NBTHK’s annualswordsmiths’ exhibition. He has won the Award forExcellence three times, the Award for Effort three timesand the Nyusen Award twelve times.

Nagaoka Masaie 長岡正家

Nagaoka Masaie is a former student of Shoji. His givenname is Noguchi Hitoshi. Born in 1963, he joined Kuniieas an apprentice in 1985. He felt it was in his blood tobecome a swordsmith, as was his father (Yukiharu of theTaguchi school of smiths). Yukiharu, impressed byShoji’s reputation and skill, sent Masaie to the Nihon SoTantojo for training. A smith of great promise, Masaiewon the Kunzan Award (one of the first prizes) on hissecond entry to the exhibition. On his first entry he wasAwarded Nyusen. He went on to win the Award forEffort twice and the Award for Excellence twice.However, due to the difficulties of being a swordsmith inmodern Japan, he has had to continue the craft part-time—taking a corporate position to supplement hisswordsmithing income. This is not an isolated case.There are many young talented smiths who take up thecraft, only to find that they are unable to supportthemselves. An average apprenticeship is usually aboutfive years on minimum or no wage, but many stay longer

in order to perfect their skills and out of respect to theirteacher before leaving to start their own studios

Kubo Yoshihiro 久保善博

Kubo Yoshihiro was born March 19,1965 on the small island of AmamiOshima; part of Kagoshima prefecture just off the southern most islandof Japan, Kyushu. He graduated from high school in 1983 and entereddirectly into Chiba University to pursue a degree in agriculturalchemistry. Yoshihiro graduated from university in 1987 and went on tograduate school. While at graduate school he watched a program inwhich the late Living National Treasure swordsmith, SumitaneMasamine, discussed the problems of trying to recreate the way swordsof the Kamakura period were made.

Being a scientist and possessing a great interest in Japanese swords,Yoshihiro was intrigued by the problems facing swordsmiths and eagerto find a solution. He went to the Nezu sword club, where he metmukansa sword polisher Okisato Fujishiro. Once Yoshihiro expressedhis interest in becoming a swordsmith, Okisato introduced him toYoshindo, who accepted him as a student. Upon completion of hisgraduate degree, Yoshihiro immediately joined the Yoshihara NihontoTanren Dojo as an apprentice. In 2001, after receiving his swordsmith’slicence, he opened his own swordsmith training workshop called TheYoshihiro Nihonto Tanren Dojo in Hiroshima.

He is currently part of a group of eight smiths, called the Mura-kumo-kai. Mura-kumo is the original name of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi—thesword that makes up part of the imperial regalia, along with the mirrorand the jewel. This group, although they come from completely separateschools, exchange ideas and exhibit collectively around Japan. Kubo sanhas since been awarded tokusho prizes at the annual sword-forgingcompetition and in 2007 was awarded the NBTHK Chairman’s Award

Yoshihara Yoshikazu 吉原義一　Born in 1967 in Tokyo, Yoshikazu is the fourth generation in the Yoshiharafamily of swordsmiths and is the great-grandson of Kuniie I. Yoshikazu, likehis father Yoshindo, uses his own name to sign his blades. He became hisfather’s apprentice in 1985, but like his father and his uncle, his exposure tothe swordsmith’s workshop actually came much earlier than that, as he spentmuch time there when he was a child.

Yoshikazu obtained his swordsmith’s licence in 1990. Even though he hascompleted his five-year apprenticeship many years ago, he prefers to staywith his father at the Nihonto Tanren Dojo, and will eventually succeed hisfather in the running of it. Yoshikazu hopes that in turn his own son, Akira,will also eventually take over the family business. Yoshikazu has alwaysbeen a remarkable smith, and like his father and uncle before him he hasmade an indelible impact on the Japanese sword world, and won numerousawards. In 2003 at the age of thirty-six, after winning the Prince TakamatsuAward for the third time in his career, he was elevated to the rank ofmukansa. Yoshikazu is the youngest smith ever to receive this accolade.

Although Yoshikazu can work in other traditions of swordmaking, hepersonally likes the flamboyant style of the Kamakura period, Ichimonjischool. In the Japanese sword world, there is a tendency to believe that theolder swords are better swords. Yoshikazu does not believe this is the case.He feels that the Japanese sword has always been a progression oftechnology, and that smiths today are just as (if not more) skilful as thesmiths of 800 years ago. He notes that historical value and technical skill aretwo different things. It is his intention to continue pushing the boundaries ofsword technology, continuing its evolution, as did generations of smithsbefore him.

Sato Yoshiaki 佐藤義朗

Born 1974 in Tokyo, Sato Yoshiaki entered theYoshihara studio at the age of twenty-one, obtaining hisswordsmith’s license in 2000. Although the majority ofhis training was in the Bizen tradition, he now prefers towork in the soshu tradition. Yoshiaki is also skilled atdecorative carving (horimono).

Yoshiaki’s interest in Japanese swords began at a youngage. He decided early on that he wanted to become aswordsmith and make them himself. He feels thatJapanese swords are the world’s foremost cuttingweapon. Yoshiaki does not enter the annualswordsmiths’ competition as he feels that swordappreciation is a personal matter.

Since leaving the Yoshihara studio, he has started hisown workshop in Higashi Mizumoto, Katsushika ward,Tokyo. Yoshiaki shares this studio with another formerYoshihara apprentice, Oda Kuzan.

Oda Kuzan 小田久山Kuzan was born in Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu in 1942. He left high school at sixteen topursue a career in the Japanese airforce. After a brief stint, he decided to learn sword polishing fromhis uncle, Yasuo Oda in Kyushu. When he was 19 he moved to Tokyo in search of work and trainedas a toolmaker. When he was 32, he decided to relocate to America. He was to spend the next 20years living in the United States before returning to Japan in 1993.

Kuzan was already friends with Yoshindo Yoshihara before he left for America. When Yoshindowas demonstrating swordmaking in Dallas, Texas, Kuzan went to see his old friend. On thisoccasion he asked Yoshindo for an apprenticeship, but Yoshindo refused. As Kuzan did not want toapprentice with any other swordsmiths, he repeatedly asked Yoshindo if he could become hisapprentice. Yoshindo always refused, saying he would always be his friend, but he could not takehim as an apprentice. When Kuzan moved back to Japan, he approached Yoshindo once more andpleaded to be accepted as an apprentice. He told Yoshindo that at 52 years of age, this was his lastchance to fulfil a lifelong dream of becoming a swordsmith. Yoshindo relented, and Kuzan when onto complete his apprenticeship and get his swordsmith’s licence in September 1998. He continues towork in a workshop he shares with Sato Yoshiaki, another former student of the Nihonto TanrenDojo in Higashi Mizumoto, Tokyo.

In 2003, Kuzan was approached by the Japanese TV program Seeds of Trivia. In the program, a 45semi-automatic handgun was fired from a five meter distance, directly at the cutting edge of Kuzan’sblade. High-speed photography was used to record the results. The bullet was completely cut intotwo, with absolutely no damage to the blade. Kuzan was challenged once again. The test was a 5.0calibre machine gun. This time the sword appeared to be shattered by the rapid succession ofgunfire. However, the slow motion footage revealed astonishing results. The sword had completelysliced six full metal jacket rounds in two before succumbing to the onslaught of the machine gunfire.

Takano Yukimitsu 高野行光

Takano Yukimitsu is Ono Yoshimitsu’s former student. Born October 15, 1952 in Ibarakiprefecture, Takano Hiroyuki moved to Tokyo with his parents at the age of two. He haddeveloped a keen interest in Japanese swords at a young age and began studying themdiligently soon after he left high school. As a supplement to his sword study, he took apart-time job at the Yoshihara Tanren Dojo as an assistant. It was during this time he metOno Yoshimitsu. Takano was so impressed on the first occasion he saw Yoshimitsuproduce a copy of the Yamatorige that he immediately asked Yoshimitsu if he wouldaccept him as his student.

Yoshimitsu accepted Takano as a student in December 1986. After receiving hisswordsmith’s licence on April 4, 1992, Takano took the art name Yukimitsu. He has beenentering the Shinsakutoten since 1996, where he has repeatedly attained the rank ofNyusen. He also regularly enters his blades into the annual exhibition of smiths from theKanto branch of the Japanese Swordsmiths Association at the famous Yasukuni shrine inKudan, Tokyo. Takano doesn’t make many long swords, as in today’s economic climatethey are difficult for relatively unknown smiths to sell. Since becoming an independentsmith, Takano has chosen to work in the Gassan style of swordmaking. Gassan are aschool of smiths whose work dates back to the Kamakura period. They were known fortheir ayasugi hada (Japanese cedar grain pattern), a characteristic Takano uses in hisblades. Takano runs a successful kogatana (traditional utility knife) school out of hisforge in Adachi Ku, Tokyo, very close to the Nishi Arai Daishi Shrine. He teachescourses for people interested in understanding the swordmaking process.

Paul Martin

This article was made possible due to the great help receivedfrom many people. I would like to thank The Yoshihara familyfor supplying many photographs, Yoshindo Yoshihara, Leonand Hiroko Kapp for the use of images from Modern JapaneseSwords and Swordsmiths. Okisato Fujishiro for the use of hisimages. Chris Bowen for his help and oshigata. Abe Kazunorifor his help and oshigata. Tom Kishida for allowing me to usehis images. Tamio Tsuchiko for the use of his images, and all ofthe swordsmiths for their time and patience.