Kantei
A woman in a woollen hat and a man holding a rough blade pose smiling in a sheet-metal workshop with hanging tools.

Swordsmith of Ōme (Tokyo) · his own tatara steel

Hirata Sukehira (平田祐平)

A swordsmith from Tokyo who trained for thirteen years with Ueda Sukesada in Osafune and forges in Ōme with his own steel alongside Hirata Nodoka, murage: his life, his forge, his work, his prizes and his videos

Hirata Sukehira was born in Kodaira, in Tokyo, and trained for thirteen years with Ueda Sukesada in Osafune (Okayama), where he also learned to make steel. Today he forges in Ōme, in western Tokyo, with the tamahagane from his own tatara, which is run by his wife, Hirata Nodoka (平田のどか).

Photo: Tsunagu Japan

13
Years of apprenticeship with Ueda Sukesada
2010
Completes the swordsmith training course
8–15
Kilos of tamahagane per tatara smelt, according to the couple
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Hirata Sukehira AT
Kanji and reading
平田祐平 (Hirata Sukehira) AT
Birth
Kodaira (Tokyo); the year is not on record AT
Where he forges
Ōme (Tokyo), at his forge, Hirata Tantōjō (平田鍛刀場) AT
Master
上田祐定 (Ueda Sukesada), for thirteen years, in Osafune AT
School or tradition
That of Ueda Sukesada in Osafune (Bizen), with his own tatara steel AT
Swordsmith’s licence
Completed the swordsmith training course in 2010; the year of the licence is not on record AT
Rank
No NBTHK prizes in the catalogues from 2019 to 2026 HD

In short

What we know. According to him and to the interviews he has given, he studied his own steel and forging with Ueda Sukesada for thirteen years, completed the swordsmith training course in 2010 and forges in Ōme with the tamahagane from his tatara. His wife, Hirata Nodoka, runs the tatara as murage (村下, the master of the furnace).

What we do not know. The year of his birth and that of his licence, nor exactly when he opened the Ōme forge: he places it after the 2010 course and a magazine, in 2019. He does not appear in the lists or catalogues of the NBTHK competition from 2019 to 2026.

Sections

  1. From Osafune to Ōme Life and forging Thirteen years with Ueda Sukesada, the 2010 course, the Ōme forge and the tatara run by Hirata Nodoka.
  2. His own tamahagane Work and style What he is after with his steel, his swords and his knives, with a gallery of the forge and of the work.
  3. What is on record and what is not Prizes No NBTHK prize in the catalogues from 2019 to 2026.
  4. Television and reports Videos Four videos from television and from a reportage channel about the couple and the tatara.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026 and the credit of each image.