Kantei
A man with a white cloth on his head, seated before the anvil, holds a red-hot bar with tongs.

Swordsmith of Kita (Tokyo) · pupil of the Yoshihara

Mizuki Yoshimitsu (水木良光)

A swordsmith from Kita ward, in Tokyo, a pupil of the Yoshihara, who also draws famous swords for popular books: his life, his work and his prizes, with the level of evidence of each fact

Mizuki Yoshimitsu (水木良光) forges swords in Kita ward, in Tokyo. He studied sculpture, learned the craft with Yoshihara Yoshindo (吉原義人) and Yoshihara Yoshikazu (吉原義一) and obtained his licence in 2011. Besides forging, he draws: he has illustrated popular books on how to look at famous swords.

Kita ward (Tokyo), traditional crafts profile

1983
Born
2011
Licence from the Agency for Cultural Affairs
2020
Title of Tōkyō Maisutā (東京マイスター, Tōkyō Maisutā)
2017
Tachi and tsuba selected (入選, nyūsen) at the NBTHK
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Mizuki Yoshimitsu HD
Kanji and reading
水木良光 · みずき よしみつ (Mizuki Yoshimitsu) HD
Birth
1983 HD
Where he forges
Kita ward (北区, Kita-ku), in Tokyo HD
Masters
Yoshihara Yoshindo (吉原義人, Yoshihara Yoshindo) and Yoshihara Yoshikazu (吉原義一, Yoshihara Yoshikazu) AT
School or tradition
That of his masters, the Yoshihara of Tokyo II
Licence
2011, from the Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkachō) HD
Rank
He is not listed as mukansa (無鑑査, mukansa) in the NBTHK lists consulted PC

In short

What we know. According to the Kita ward traditional crafts profile, he was born in 1983, graduated in Sculpture from Musashino Art University (武蔵野美術大学, Musashino Bijutsu Daigaku) and in 2011 received from the Agency for Cultural Affairs the approval to forge swords. In 2020 Tokyo gave him the title of Tōkyō Maisutā (東京マイスター, Tōkyō Maisutā, “Tokyo master”). The catalogue of the NBTHK exhibition of January to March 2018 lists a tachi and a tsuba signed 良光 (Yoshimitsu), both selected (入選, nyūsen), under the name of an exhibitor with the surname 水木 (Mizuki); we take them to be his.

What we do not know. What his steel and his hardening are like, in writing: no source describes them, and the hamon can only be seen in the photo of one tachi. Nor have we been able to confirm at the NBTHK the 2015 and 2016 prizes given by the Kita craftsmen’s association.

Sections

  1. From sculpture to the forge Life and forging From Musashino Art University to the Yoshihara workshop, the 2011 licence and the honours from Tokyo.
  2. Shape, steel and hamon Work and style The tachi “Karura”, the tantō “Yamashizuku”, the replica of Yagen Tōshirō, his metalwork and his drawings.
  3. The NBTHK and Tokyo Prizes His prizes in the NBTHK competition and the honours from the ward and the city of Tokyo.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026 and the credit of each image.