Kawachi Kunihira
河内國平 (Kawachi Kunihira)
A smith born in Osaka in 1941, son of the fourteenth Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke; mukansa and Masamune prize winner in 2014 for recovering midare-utsuri.
Profile
Kawachi Kunihira is the second son of the fourteenth Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke. After graduating in law in 1966 he became a pupil of Miyairi Akihira, who taught him Sōshū-den; in 1972 he opened his forge at Higashi-Yoshino in Nara, and in 1984 he studied Bizen-den with Sumitani Masamine. He is mukansa, has forged tachi and spears for the Ise shrine in 1993 and 2013, and since 2005 has been holder of an intangible cultural property of Nara Prefecture. In 2014 he won the Masamune prize with a blade reproducing the midare-utsuri of kotō, a prize that had not been awarded in its category for eighteen years.
Monograph
Kawachi Kunihira (河内國平)
Mukansa since 1988 and Masamune Prize in 2014: his quick profile and the essentials.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Tachi: plate 53 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 107).
- Tantō: plate 54 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 109).
Rankings
- Mukansa since 1987
- Masamune Prize: 2014