Nigara Kunitoshi
二唐国俊 (Nigara Kunitoshi)
A smith of Aomori, of the Nigara family, who received the Army Minister’s prize in the sword competition of 1944.
Profile
Nigara Kunitoshi, whose family name is also read Nikara, was from Aomori Prefecture, from a family of smiths with several members active during the war. In the Army’s technical sword competition, 陸軍軍刀技術奨励会 (Rikugun Guntō Gijutsu Shōreikai), held in Tokyo on 21 December 1944, he received the Army Minister’s prize, the only one of its kind; the same list of prizewinners includes two other Nigara of Aomori, Yoshihiro and Yoshinobu. The list records him as of the school of Kurihara Akihide, with the name 昭弘 (Akihiro).
The name Kunitoshi was used by several generations of the family, and the sources consulted do not allow us to say which one the published works belong to, nor do they give his dates. The Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan reproduces two blades signed Kunitoshi by a Nikara, a katana and a tantō.
Notable works
- Katana: plate 69 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 139).
- Tantō: plate 70 of the Gendaitō Meisaku Zukan (p. 141).
Rankings
- Mukansa since 1981