Fujiyasu Masahira
藤安将平 (Fujiyasu Masahira)
A Fukushima smith born in 1946, a pupil of Miyairi Akihira; a researcher of early sword-making and of primitive iron furnaces.
Profile
Fujiyasu Masahira was born in 1946 at Kawamata in Fukushima and grew up in Fukushima city. In high school he read Miyairi Akihira's memoirs, and in 1966 he became his pupil. He was licensed in 1972, when his first tachi won a prize at the new-sword exhibition, and in 1975 he opened his forge at Tatsugoyama in Fukushima. In 1990 he received the NBTHK chairman's prize and was commissioned a sword for the Ise shrine. He has devoted himself above all to the study of early swords: he forged a blade from meteoric iron, since 2003 he has rebuilt primitive iron furnaces with archaeologists, and he has given public offering forgings at shrines such as Atsuta and Kashima.
Monograph
Fujiyasu Masahira (藤安将平)
A swordsmith of the Miyairi school who pursues kotō saigen, the reproduction of the ancient sword, told with the level of evidence of each fact.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Katana: plate 57 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 115).
- Tachi: plate 58 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 117).