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Training
- He was born on 24 February 1920 in Yatsushiro, in Kumamoto Prefecture.
- In 1933, at the age of thirteen, he entered as a live-in apprentice with 金剛兵衛盛高靖博 (Kongō Byōe Moritaka Yasuhiro), in Yatsushiro.
- In 1940 his master gave him the characters 源 (Minamoto) and 盛 (mori), and from then on he signed 源盛吉 (Minamoto Moriyoshi). In 1941 he also received the name 延寿宜次 (Enju Nobutsugu), as successor of 延寿宣繁 (Enju Nobushige), with whom he learned to forge spears.
- At twenty he was called up and fought in northern China; on his return he went back to his master’s forge.
His forge
- In 1948, at the age of twenty-seven, he opened his own forge.
- On 3 July 1954 he received the licence from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and that year he exhibited at the first 作刀技術発表会 (Sakutō Gijutsu Happyōkai).
- He exhibited in the NBTHK competition for new work in 1967, 1968 and 1970, and in 1985 the NBTHK made him mukansa.
- He was also known as a maker of spears, and the technique passed to his son.
- He died in 1990, at the age of seventy.
The family
- His elder son is a swordsmith and signs 延寿宣次 (Enju Nobutsugu); the younger, 宏司 (Hiroshi), is a polisher.