Norishige
則重 (Norishige)
A smith of Kureha-gō in Etchū of the late Kamakura period, from the circle of Shintōgo Kunimitsu; known for matsukawa-hada, his «pine-bark» jigane.
Profile
Norishige, surnamed Saeki, worked at Kureha-gō in the Nei district of Etchū, in today's Toyama city. Tradition counts him among Masamune's «ten pupils», but his dates (there is a tantō of 1314) make him a pupil of Shintōgo Kunimitsu and a fellow, or senior, of Masamune; he may have been Gō Yoshihiro's teacher. His work has more Yamato in it than Masamune's: an ō-itame with mokume and coarse ji-nie, chikei that cross into the edge as kinsuji and inazuma, and a suguha with ko-notare of strong nie. The jigane layered like pine bark is called matsukawa-hada. He made mostly tachi and tantō; one tantō is a national treasure and eight works are important cultural properties.
Monograph
Norishige (則重)
The smith of the pine bark, told with the level of evidence of each fact: the dates of his blades and what is tradition.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Nihon-ichi Norishige: signed tantō, national treasure, Eisei Bunko collection.