Training
He was born in 1983 and graduated in Sculpture (彫刻科, chōkoku-ka) from Musashino Art University. According to the Kita craftsmen’s association, he became a pupil of Yoshihara Yoshindo (吉原義人), an intangible cultural asset of Tokyo, and of Yoshihara Yoshikazu (吉原義一), an intangible cultural asset of Katsushika ward. In 2011 the Agency for Cultural Affairs gave him the approval to forge swords (作刀承認, sakutō shōnin).
The workshop and the craft
He appears on the list of traditional craftsmen of Kita ward, in Tokyo, and in its craftsmen’s association. He gives talks in museums and schools on how a sword is forged and on its beauty.
In the ward profile he says that he wants to make swords that, like an amulet (御守刀, omamori-gatana), encourage whoever carries them and sometimes give them peace of mind, and that a sword cannot lack shape (姿, sugata), steel (鋼, hagane) and hardening (刃文, hamon).
Honours from Tokyo
In 2019 he won the Kita ward craftsmanship award, 北区きらりと光るものづくり顕彰 (Kita-ku kirari to hikaru monozukuri kenshō), in the 技人部門 (waza-bito bumon, “craftsmen”) section, and in 2020 the title of Tōkyō Maisutā (東京マイスター, Tōkyō Maisutā) from the Tokyo government.
The swordsmith who draws
According to his publisher’s press release of 6 July 2026, he publishes the serial “はがねのたね” (Hagane no tane, “the seed of steel”) in the magazine 刀剣画報 (Tōken Gahō), and illustrated the book of the same title, a beginners’ guide to appreciating famous swords, seen by a swordsmith. For the introduction to the Japanese sword by Tōken Gahō that Hobby Japan put on sale on 6 July 2026 he drew eight famous swords, among them Mikazuki Munechika (三日月宗近) and Ōkanehira (大包平).
Play: 刀鍛冶 水木良光 (Katanakaji Mizuki Yoshimitsu; “The swordsmith Mizuki Yoshimitsu”)
刀鍛冶 水木良光 (Katanakaji Mizuki Yoshimitsu; “The swordsmith Mizuki Yoshimitsu”) · 東京都北区公式チャンネル (Tōkyō-to Kita-ku kōshiki channeru), official channel of Kita ward
5:45 · 14 December 2021
A report by Kita ward on his craft, from its traditional crafts series; the ward profile links to it.