Iga no Kami Kinmichi

Profile

The third smith to work under the name Iga no Kami Kinmichi (伊賀守金道), in the line of the Mishina (三品) school that had been settled in Kyoto since the late 16th century. He worked in Yamashiro province in the late 17th and early 18th centuries; he is credited with receiving the title Iga no Kami in 1684, and dated works of his from the Kyōhō era are known. As head of the family he inherited the title Nihon kaji sōshō, which tradition links to the swords the founder made for Tokugawa Ieyasu, together with the role of intermediary at court when honorary titles were granted to other smiths. It was he who changed the way the title was written, from 惣 (sō) to 宗 (sō). He signed Iga no Kami Fujiwara Kinmichi (伊賀守藤原金道), with the kikumon (菊紋), the imperial chrysanthemum, above the signature and the title Nihon kaji sōshō (日本鍛冶宗匠) on the other side of the tang. His blades follow the features of the school, among them the Mishina bōshi (三品帽子), the school's own form of bōshi.