Kantei
Old black-and-white photograph in four strips: the point of the blade, the two sides of the tang with gold inscriptions and the whole blade.

Kyoto · Nanbokuchō · Hasebe school

Hasebe Kunishige (長谷部国重)

The founder of the Hasebe school of Kyoto, in the Nanbokuchō: his disputed origin, his generations, his Sōshū manner of thin blades and the Heshikiri, a National Treasure

Hasebe Kunishige (長谷部国重, Hasebe Kunishige) forged in Kyoto in the Nanbokuchō and gives his name to the Hasebe school. He worked in the Sōshū manner, with thin blades, masame along the edge and a temper that tends to hitatsura. Tradition counts him among the ten pupils of Masamune. His most famous work, the へし切長谷部 (Heshikiri Hasebe), is a National Treasure and the only one of the school in the Kyōhō meibutsuchō (享保名物帳).

Committee for the Protection of Cultural Properties, 国宝図録 (Kokuhō zuroku), 1957, via Wikimedia Commons

1355
First securely dated blade
3
Generations, according to the meikan
3
Known signed tachi, according to Sesko
1953
The Heshikiri, National Treasure
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Hasebe Kunishige AT
Kanji and reading
長谷部国重 (Hasebe Kunishige); five-character signature, 長谷部国重 (Hasebe Kunishige) HD
Period
Nanbokuchō: dated blades from 1355 to 1368. The meikan place the first one around the Kenmu era (1334–1338). AT
Province
Yamashiro: the Gojō Bōmon Inokuma quarter, in Kyoto HD
School
Hasebe, of which he is the founder; Sōshū work with Yamato traits HD
Master
According to tradition, Masamune, in Kamakura AT
Generations
Three according to the meikan (around Kenmu, around Enbun, and Rokurōzaemon, around Ōei); Tanobe and Fujishiro count two AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his dated blades and the Heshikiri. Tradition: that he was a pupil of Masamune, and his dates of birth and death. AT

In short

What we know. There are blades signed 長谷部国重 (Hasebe Kunishige) with dates from 1355 to 1368, above all tantō and ko-wakizashi in hira-zukuri. The Heshikiri Hasebe, unsigned and attributed to him in gold letters, has been a National Treasure since 1953.

How we know it. From the records of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and of the National Museums, the NBTHK journal and the studies of Markus Sesko. His dates of life and his master come from later meikan and treatises.

What we do not know. Whether he came from Yamato or from the family of Shintōgo Kunimitsu, how many smiths signed Kunishige and whether he really learned under Masamune.

Sections

  1. Yamato · Sōshū · Kyoto Life and times Where he came from, when he worked, how many generations there were and what dates his blades bear.
  2. Masame · hitatsura · thin blades Work and style The kantei keys of the school, key by key, and how not to confuse it with Hiromitsu.
  3. National Treasure · Kyōhō meibutsuchō Famous works The Heshikiri Hasebe and the other blades with an official record or with NBTHK papers.
  4. Outreach and press Videos A news report on the exhibition of the Heshikiri in Fukuoka.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.