Kantei
Whole katana blade, vertical, with the hardening of square waves and the tang at the bottom, on a black background.

Lineage of Kanazawa, in Kaga · from the beginning to the end of the Edo period

Kashū Kanewaka (加州兼若)

The Maeda swordsmiths in Kanazawa: from the first, who signed Takahira, to the family that lasted until the end of the Edo

Kashū Kanewaka (加州兼若) is the name of the lineage of swordsmiths that worked in Kanazawa, in Kaga province, for the Maeda during the Edo period. The first, from a family of swordsmiths of Mino, arrived in Kanazawa around 1605; in 1619 he received the title of Etchū no Kami and began to sign Takahira (高平). He was called Kaga Masamune (加賀正宗), and the hamon of gunome tending to square, the hako-midare, is the hallmark of the school.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Around 1605 (Keichō 10)
Arrival in Kanazawa
1619 (Genna 5)
Etchū no Kami and Takahira
Ō-wazamono
Cutting grade of the first generation
Kaga Masamune
Nickname
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Kashū Kanewaka. The first signed Etchū no Kami Fujiwara Takahira from 1619 or 1621 AT
Kanji and reading
加州兼若 (Kashū Kanewaka), which the signatures write 賀州兼若 (Kashū Kanewaka); 越中守藤原高平 (Etchū no Kami Fujiwara Takahira); 辻村 (Tsujimura), the family surname AT
Period
From the beginning to the end of the Edo period: the first signed from 1604 to 1628 and the third died in 1711; according to the Heibonsha encyclopaedia, the family kept the name until the end of the Edo AT
Province
Kaga (加賀, Kaga): Kanazawa (金沢, Kanazawa); the family came from Mino (美濃, Mino) AT
School
Kaga, in the service of the Maeda, with Mino roots; according to the Japanese Wikipedia and Kotobank, the family claimed descent from Shizu Saburō Kaneuji AT
Master and family
The first, according to the Japanese Sword Index, son of Tsujimura Yomonosuke, who moved from Inuyama, in Owari, to Kaga around 1604. The second Kanewaka, Matasuke (又助, Matasuke), was his third son according to the NBTHK, and the third, Shirōemon, son of Matasuke according to the Japanese Sword Index AT
Title
Etchū no Kami (越中守, Etchū no Kami), the first, in 1619 (Genna 5), according to the Japanese Wikipedia and Kotobank; according to the Japanese Sword Index, a tantō signed Etchū Daijō (越中大掾, Etchū Daijō) points to a brief period with that title AT
Generations
Three with dates: the first, active from 1604 to 1628; Matasuke, from 1613 to 1677 according to the Japanese Sword Index, and Shirōemon, who inherited the name in 1677 and died in 1711. How many generations there were afterwards is not recorded in the sources consulted. AT
Cutting rank
In the 『懐宝剣尺』 (Kaihō Kenjaku), the first is 大業物 (ō-wazamono) as Kashū Kanewaka, and is in the mixed category as Etchū no Kami Takahira, according to the Japanese and English Wikipedia; the Japanese Sword Index gives him 良業物 (yoki-wazamono) AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: katana by Takahira of 1622 in the Metropolitan Museum, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and the Tokyo National Museum, two katana that are cultural properties of Ishikawa prefecture and a katana of 1664 signed by Matasuke. Tradition: that the family descended from Shizu Saburō Kaneuji, and the nickname Kaga Masamune. AT

In short

According to the Japanese Wikipedia and Kotobank, around 1605 the Maeda called the first Kanewaka, a swordsmith born in Mino, to Kanazawa. He signed Kanewaka until 1619, when he received the title of Etchū no Kami and changed his name to Takahira; his last work is of 1628.

He was followed by his third son, Matasuke, and Matasuke’s son, Shirōemon, who died in 1711. The Heibonsha encyclopaedia cites the Kanewaka as an example of swordsmiths in the service of a lord: they kept the name and the technique in the Maeda house until the end of the Edo period.

There are katana by the first generation, as Takahira, in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, in the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and in the Tokyo National Museum. His hamon of square gunome, the hako-midare, is for the Japanese Sword Index and for the NBTHK the trait of the school.

Sections

  1. One name, several generations Life and times From Mino to Kanazawa, from Kanewaka to Takahira, and the sons and grandsons of the first.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style The hako-midare, the jihada, the bōshi, the engravings, the signatures and how to tell the generations apart.
  3. In museums and lists Famous works The museum blades, the designated ones and his place in the cutting list.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted and the image credits.