Dewa no Kami Yukihiro

Profile

Yukihiro was the second son of Yoshinobu and the younger brother of the first Masahiro, part of the collateral (bō-Hizen) branch of the Tadayoshi school in Hizen. He was working by the late 1630s; he first signed with the title Dewa Daijō and in 1663 moved up to Dewa no Kami, which he held until his death in 1683. He is known for inscriptions stating that a blade was forged in the Dutch manner, Oranda-kitae (阿蘭陀鍛); by tradition he learned the technique in Nagasaki. As Dewa no Kami he added the character ichi (一) below the habaki, above the long signature Hizen no Kuni Dewa no Kami Yukihiro, placed on the tachi-mei side of his katana. His hada is a tight ko-itame with ji-nie, a little darker than that of the main line; his hamon ranges from suguha to a broad midare of notare, gunome and chōji, with sunagashi. His son inherited the name and the title. A katana by him is held by the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum.