Kantei

Osaka shintō · second half of the 17th century

Echigo no Kami Kanesada (越後守包貞)

The second Echigo no Kami Kanesada of Osaka, who bore the name for some eleven years, handed it on to Iwamatsu and then signed Terukane: his tōran-ba and his place among the ō-wazamono

Echigo no Kami Kanesada (越後守包貞) is the name of a line of swordsmiths of Osaka, in Settsu province. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the second, a pupil of the first, took the name around 1669, when the master died and his heir Iwamatsu was a child, and around 1680 handed it on to Iwamatsu in order to sign 坂倉言之進照包 (Sakakura Gonnoshin Terukane). The Yamada cutting list places him among the ō-wazamono, the second of its four grades.

Around 1669
Signs Kanesada
Around 1680
Signs Terukane
Ō-wazamono (2nd of 4)
Cutting rank
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Echigo no Kami Kanesada, the second of the name; from around 1680, 坂倉言之進照包 (Sakakura Gonnoshin Terukane) AT
Kanji and reading
越後守包貞 (Echigo no Kami Kanesada); later, 照包 (Terukane) AT
Period
Second half of the 17th century, Edo period; shintō (新刀, shintō) AT
Province
Settsu (摂津, Settsu), in Osaka AT
School
The shintō swordsmiths of Osaka AT
Master
The first Echigo no Kami Kanesada, according to Japanese Wikipedia AT
Title
Echigo no Kami (越後守, Echigo no Kami), the honorary title that forms part of the name of the line (受領銘, zuryō-mei) AT
Generations
Three: the first; the second, the subject of this monograph; and the third, Iwamatsu, whose work is very scarce AT
Rank
大業物 (ō-wazamono), the 2nd of the 4 grades of the 懐宝剣尺 (Kaihō Kenjaku); as Terukane, east maegashira in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking (1933, published in 1935) AT
What is documented
A katana by the second Kanesada, 69.4 cm long, in a 2023 exhibition at Nagoya Castle HD
The tradition
His birth, his death and the year of his title are not recorded in any of the sources consulted; nor is any work of his designated by the State PC

In short

For Japanese Wikipedia he is one of the representative masters of Osaka shintō, of the 上々作 (jōjō-saku) grade. He excelled in the 濤瀾刃 (tōran-ba), the temper line of great waves, and in an ō-gunome-midare with 矢筈 (yahazu) shapes, the nock of an arrow; he also made blades in suguha in the manner of Sukehiro. The Yamada cutting list places the “second Kanesada” among the 大業物 (ō-wazamono).

Sections

  1. Osaka · from Kanesada to Terukane Life and times How he took the name Kanesada, why he gave it up, and the three generations.
  2. Tōran-ba · ō-gunome-midare Work and style His temper line, his two signatures and what the sources do not describe.
  3. Ō-wazamono · exhibitions Famous works The Yamada cutting list, a katana at Nagoya Castle and two at the NBTHK competitions.
  4. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted.