Kantei
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Swordsmith of Kamikawa (Saitama) · Mino-den and Sōshū-den

Fusahiro (房宙)

A swordsmith of Kamikawa (Saitama), pupil of the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa, who works in the Mino-den and the Sōshū-den: his life, his work, his prizes and his talks

Fusahiro (房宙) has forged since 2002 in Kamikawa (神川町, Kamikawa-machi), in Saitama prefecture. He trained for eight years in Seki under the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa (藤原兼房, Fujiwara Kanefusa), from whom he took the character 房 (fusa) of his name, and he works in the Mino and Sōshū traditions. This short monograph gathers what can be told about him and separates what is documented from what only he tells.

Still: A2008B2007C2009

1974
Born in Nerima (Tokyo)
1993–2001
Apprentice of the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa, in Seki
2002
His own forge in Kamikawa (Saitama)
5
Selections (入選, nyūsen) in the new-work competition, according to him
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Swordsmith’s name
房宙 (Fusahiro) AT
Birth
1974, in Nerima (Tokyo) AT
Where he forges
Kamikawa (神川町, Kamikawa-machi), Kodama district, Saitama prefecture, since 2002 AT
Master
The twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa (二十五代藤原兼房, nijūgo-dai Fujiwara Kanefusa), in Seki (Gifu), from 1993 to 2001 AT
School or tradition
Mino-den (美濃伝, Mino-den) and Sōshū-den (相州伝, Sōshū-den); his models, Minamoto Kiyomaro (源清麿, Minamoto Kiyomaro) and Shizu (志津, Shizu) AT
Licence
April 1998, from the Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkachō) AT
Rank
Not listed as mukansa or as a prize-winner in the NBTHK catalogues and lists from 2021 to 2026 HD

In short

What we know. He was born in 1974 in Nerima, in Tokyo; on finishing high school, in 1993, he became an apprentice of the twenty-fifth Fujiwara Kanefusa in Seki (Gifu), received his swordsmith’s licence in April 1998 and opened his Kamikawa forge in 2002. He works in the Mino-den and the Sōshū-den, and takes Minamoto Kiyomaro and Shizu as his models.

How we know it. He tells almost all of it himself, and repeats it in his talks of 2025 and 2026 and in the press (CNN in Japanese, in 2019; the dpa agency, in 2017). The NBTHK lists we have been able to consult do not name him.

What we do not know. His selections from 2000 to 2006 could not be checked against the official lists, which are not online. There is no description, his own or by critics, of the steel, the hardening or the shape of his blades, and no catalogued works of his.

Sections

  1. From Nerima to Seki and Kamikawa Life and forging The apprenticeship in Seki, the Kamikawa forge, Yasukuni and the swordsmiths’ association, year by year.
  2. Mino-den and Sōshū-den Work and style His models, his way of forging and the chiselled signature, in pictures.
  3. Five selections, according to him Prizes His selections from 2000 to 2006 and what the NBTHK lists say.
  4. His talks and a signature Videos Four videos: his talks of 2025 and 2026, a conversation with a polisher and a signature.
  5. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.