Kantei
A short, curved blade, horizontal, with the point to the right, the light, wavy temper along the edge and the rusted tang, with one hole, to the left.

Kaga · Hashizume line · Muromachi and early Edo

Ietsugu (家次)

A lineage of Kaga swordsmiths, from the mid-Muromachi to the early Edo period, called “Kaga Aoe”: its generations, its work and its sources

Ietsugu (家次, Ietsugu) is a lineage of swordsmiths of Kaga province who signed with that name from the mid-Muromachi to the early Edo period. It is the centre of the 橋爪 (Hashizume) line, and for its style, close to that of Aoe of Bitchū, it is called “Kaga Aoe”.

Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History (bulletin “Tayori”, no. 138)

1522
Its dated reference blade
2
Generations in the shintō period
15th century
First “Ietsugu” signatures
Early Edo
End of the lineage
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Ietsugu; the first, 将監家次 (Shōgen Ietsugu); in the signature, 加州家次 (Kashū Ietsugu); “Kaga Aoe” HD
Kanji and reading
家次 (Ietsugu) HD
Period
From the mid-Muromachi to the early Edo period HD
Province
Kaga; the forge, in Hashizume, in the Nomi district (today Komatsu) HD
School
Hashizume line of the Kaga smiths, which comes from the Chiyozuru of Echizen HD
Generations
“Ietsugu” signatures from the 15th to the 17th century; two generations in the shintō period, with few works AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: its dated signatures and its place in the Hashizume line. Undocumented: how many generations there were and their dates. PC

In short

What we know. Blades signed “Ietsugu” from the 15th century, a katana dated 1522 and others from the 16th and 17th centuries are in the list of works of the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History, which studies it as the centre of the Hashizume line.

How we know it. From the publications and the list of works of the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of History, which are cited without a link, and from the Japanese Sword Index, which names it among the smiths settled in Kaga.

What we do not know. Exactly how many generations there were, their dates and which blade is by which.

Sections

  1. Echizen · Hashizume · Kaga The lineage and its times From Echizen to Hashizume, its generations and its place in the history of Kaga.
  2. Kaga Aoe · dated blades Work and style The kantei keys, a dated katana and a wakizashi of Honda Masashige.
  3. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026 and the credit for the image.