In Kamakura
- The dictionary 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon kokugo daijiten) gives him as a Nanbokuchō smith from Sagami.
- Sesko relates that, with the fall of Kamakura in 1333, most of the Sōshū masters left; Hiromitsu and Akihiro stayed, despite the instability, to arm the local warrior elite.
His dates
- The NBTHK, in issue 829 of its journal (February 2026), gives dated work by Hiromitsu from around the Kan'ō era (1350–1351) to the 3rd year of Jōji (1364), and by Akihiro from 1357 to 1387; that is why it considers Hiromitsu somewhat older than Akihiro.
- Another issue of the same journal, no. 721 (2017), speaks of blades signed from Kan'ō to Jōji, that is, from 1350 to 1367.
His lineage, according to each source
- The 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon kokugo daijiten) says that, according to one version, he was a pupil of Masamune.
- The Japanese Wikipedia makes him a pupil of Masamune or of his son Sadamune in the article on the Kashagiri, and a pupil, natural son or adopted son of Masamune in the one on the Ōkurikara.
- The NBTHK writes in issue 721 that hitatsura is thought to have been initiated by Sadamune and consolidated by Hiromitsu.
- None of these versions has a document behind it: they are traditions that contradict one another.
How he signed
According to the NBTHK, he signs 廣光 (Hiromitsu) or 相模国住人廣光 (Sagami no kuni jūnin Hiromitsu) on the omote side and the date on the ura; on the tachi of 1353 he signs Saemon-jō Hiromitsu. There is a type of long signature with two somewhat angular characters.
A blade with Important Art Object papers has half of its temper in hitatsura and the other half in suguha; it is not known whether it is an early work of his or by an earlier Hiromitsu.