Kantei
A bare katana on a stand covered with white cloth, with the gilt habaki and the nakago on the left, on a dark background.

Seki (Mino) · end of the Muromachi · Sue-Seki

Magoroku Kanemoto (孫六兼元)

The Seki swordsmith of the sanbonsugi, second generation of the Kanemoto and saijō ōwazamono: his life, his temper, his famous works and his sources

Magoroku Kanemoto (孫六兼元, Magoroku Kanemoto), also called Seki no Magoroku (関の孫六, Seki no Magoroku), worked in Seki, in Mino province, at the end of the Muromachi period. He is the second generation of the Kanemoto line and the only one for whom the name Magoroku, which was that of the house, is reserved today. His sanbonsugi (三本杉, sanbonsugi) temper and his supreme cutting grade have made him one of the best-known names of the kotō.

SLIMHANNYA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1523–1538
His dated works, according to the Japanese Wikipedia
2nd
Generation of the Kanemoto line
saijō ōwazamono
Cutting grade in the Kaihō Kenjaku of 1797
70.6 cm
Length of the Aoki Kanemoto, his most famous blade
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Kanemoto, second generation; he is called Magoroku Kanemoto or Seki no Magoroku. He signed 兼元 (Kanemoto), in two characters AT
Kanji and reading
孫六兼元 (Magoroku Kanemoto) · 関の孫六 (Seki no Magoroku) AT
Period
End of the Muromachi: works dated from 1523 to 1538, according to the Japanese Wikipedia. The Metropolitan in New York places him as active around 1504–1520. AT
Province
Mino: Seki, in the Mugi district AT
School
Sue-Seki, late Mino; the Japanese Wikipedia places him in the 美濃三阿弥 (Mino San'ami) school AT
Master and generations
Apprentice of the first Kanesada around the Eishō era (1504–1521), according to the Japanese Wikipedia. The name Kanemoto continues to this day, but Magoroku is reserved for him. AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: signed blades at the Tokyo National Museum and at the Metropolitan, and the Aoki Kanemoto, Important Art Object since 1939. Tradition: his sworn brotherhood with Izumi no Kami Kanesada and the cutting feats of his blades. AT

In short

What we know. That he worked in Seki at the end of the Muromachi, that his long blades, with a thin kasane and a high shinogi, were made to be used with two hands, and that his temper is the sanbonsugi. The Kaihō Kenjaku of 1797 places him, with the first Kanemoto, among the saijō ōwazamono, the supreme cutting grade.

How we know it. From the Japanese and English Wikipedias and from Nagayama’s study collected by the Japanese Sword Index; his blades, from the records of the Tokyo National Museum and of the Metropolitan.

What we do not know. Whom he trained with, which of the two dates of his activity is the right one and whether any of his blades is a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property: none has been found.

Sections

  1. Seki · two versions of his training · his owners Life and times The Kanemoto line, his apprenticeship, the discrepancy in his dates and who carried his blades.
  2. Sanbonsugi · high shinogi · jizō bōshi Work and style The kantei keys of his blades: the shape, the jigane, the sanbonsugi and the bōshi, with where the sources disagree.
  3. Aoki Kanemoto · saijō ōwazamono · museums Famous works The Aoki Kanemoto, his blades in the museums of Tokyo and New York and his place in the cutting list of 1797.
  4. Seki and its 2025 exhibition Videos Three videos by visitors of Seki and of the exhibition “Magoroku Kanemoto and the sanbonsugi”.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link where possible, and the credit for each image.