Kaga
加賀の刀工 (Kaga no tōkō)
The smiths of Kaga: from Fujishima and Kiyomitsu in the Muromachi period to Kanewaka and the smiths of the Maeda fief.
Style and characteristics
Sober blades of the hokkoku-mono group: an itame jigane with some masame and a dark tone, a suguha or ko-midare hamon, often of subdued nie. In shintō, Kanewaka added gunome in groups and a showy notare, the so-called Kaga-midare.
History
Fujishima Tomoshige, in the Nanbokuchō period, opened a line that spread across the province; in the Muromachi period it was followed by those of Kiyomitsu, Ietsugu and Kagemitsu, and by the Darani school. Under the Maeda, one of the richest fiefs in the country, Kaga shintō flourished with Kashū Kanewaka, who came from Seki, and with Hachimanyama Kiyohira; tradition holds Kaga blades to be tough and good cutters.
Smiths of the school
- Fujishima Tomoshige 藤島友重
- Hachimanyama Kiyohira 八幡山清平
- Ietsugu 家次
- Iyo Daijō Katsukuni 伊予大掾勝国
- Kaga Iehira 家平
- Kashū Kagehira
- Kashū Kagemitsu 加州景光
- Kashū Kanewaka 加州兼若
- Kashū Kanewaka 兼若
- Kashū Kiyomitsu 加州清光