Kantei
A polished tantō without mounting, seen on both sides on a black background, with grooves along the back and the engraved tang.

Swordsmith of Sakaki (Nagano) · Sōshū-den

Miyairi Kiyohira (宮入清平)

A swordsmith of Sakaki (Nagano), younger brother of the Living National Treasure Miyairi Akihira and father of Miyairi Norihiro, who signed Kiyomune from 1989: his life, his work, his prizes and his sources

Miyairi Kiyohira (宮入清平, Miyairi Kiyohira) forged in Sakaki, in Nagano Prefecture, and from 1989 signed 清宗 (Kiyomune). The younger brother of the Living National Treasure Miyairi Akihira, under whom he learned from 1941, and the father of Miyairi Norihiro, he worked in the Sōshū tradition and won twenty-three prizes at the NBTHK new-work exhibition. He died in 2003.

Photo: dealer in Japan

1924
Born
1959
Approval to forge
23
Prizes at the NBTHK Shinsaku Meitōten, from 1965
2003
Dies
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Miyairi Kiyohira; from February 1989 he signs 清宗 (Kiyomune) HD
Kanji and reading
宮入清平 (Miyairi Kiyohira) · 宮入清宗 (Miyairi Kiyomune) HD
Birth and death
1 May 1924 (Taishō 13) – 26 May 2003 (Heisei 15) HD
Where he forged
Sakaki (坂城, Sakaki), in the Hanishina district (埴科, Hanishina), Nagano Prefecture; he signed as a resident of the old province of Shinano (信濃, Shinano) HD
Master
His elder brother, 宮入昭平 (Miyairi Akihira), who later signed 行平 (Yukihira), from 1941 HD
School or tradition
The Miyairi school; the Sōshū tradition (相州伝, Sōshū-den), with Kiyomaro, Sadamune and Kaneuji as models AT
Licence
31 January 1959: the approval to forge (作刀承認, sakutō shōnin) HD
Rank
Prize of the 毎日新聞社 (Mainichi Shinbunsha) at the Shinsaku Meitōten and recognition from the governor of Nagano in 2000; not on record as a mukansa HD

In short

What we know. His life year by year and the count of his prizes: one Mainichi Shinbun prize, two 優秀賞 (Yūshūshō), twelve 奨励賞 (Shōreishō) and eight 努力賞 (Doryokushō), the first at the first edition of the 新作名刀展 (Shinsaku Meitōten), in 1965. After the death of his brother, in 1977, he became the head of the Miyairi school.

How we know it. From the page the town of Sakaki devoted to him, today only on archive.org, and from the Japanese Wikipedia. His style and his role in the school, from Tony Thomas’s index.

What we do not know. The year of each prize after 1965, and whether the sacred swords attributed to him for the Ise shrine, of 1962 and 1985, are on record at the shrine itself. There is no publishable portrait of him.

Sections

  1. Miyairi Akihira · Sakaki · Kiyomune Life and forging His life year by year, from 1924 to 2003, and the Miyairi house.
  2. Sōshū-den · Kiyomaro · Sadamune · Kaneuji Work and style His style, his models and two of his blades in photos: a katana of 1977 and a tantō signed Kiyomune.
  3. Shinsaku Meitōten · Nagano Prizes His prizes at the NBTHK new-work exhibition and the recognition of Nagano Prefecture.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link where possible, and the credit for each image.