Kantei
A grey-haired man in a white keikogi holds a purple cloth; a yellow caption with a broadcast date.

Still from the video, © TV Aichi (テレビ愛知, Terebi Aichi) · © TV Aichi (テレビ愛知, Terebi Aichi)

Two Kanekuni

Life and forging

He came late to his father’s forge, at thirty-three, and in little more than a decade reached mukansa. Today he holds posts in the Gifu NBTHK and in the swordsmiths’ association.

On this page
  1. Posts
  2. Gifu’s recognition
  3. Offerings

The sword

History

  1. The sword

    Born AT

    Second son of the first Kanekuni (兼圀), who would become mukansa and holder of an intangible cultural property of Gifu.

  2. The sword

    Pupil of his father AT

    At 33 he becomes his father’s pupil; later he takes the name Kanekuni.

  3. The sword

    First prize HD

    A 優秀賞 (Yūshūshō), excellence prize, in the NBTHK new-work competition.

  4. The sword

    Father and son, both prizewinners AT

    Father and son both win a special prize in the same competition; his is the 文化庁長官賞 (Bunkachō Chōkanshō).

  5. The sword

    Takamatsu-no-miya-shō HD

    The highest prize of the competition, the 高松宮賞 (Takamatsu-no-miya-shō).

  6. The sword

    Mukansa HD

    He receives the rank of mukansa, like his father. At the 2010 competition he already exhibits as mukansa.

  7. The sword

    The swordsmiths’ association AT

    Director of the swordsmiths’ association and president of its Tōkai branch.

  8. The sword

    Offering at Tado AT

    An offering forging at the shrine of Tado Taisha (多度大社), in Kuwana, and selection among the masters at the NBTHK exhibition 平成の名刀・名工展 (Heisei no Meitō Meikōten).

  9. The sword

    Cultural property of Gifu HD

    Gifu Prefecture registers him as holder of the important intangible cultural property “Japanese sword” (日本刀, nihontō).

Posts

He is a councillor (参議, sangi) of the Gifu branch of the NBTHK and a member of the swordsmiths’ association, the 全日本刀匠会 (Zen Nihon Tōshōkai). Since 2011 he has been a director of that association and presides over its Tōkai branch.

Gifu’s recognition

The official gazette of Gifu Prefecture of 21 February 2023 registers him as holder of the important intangible cultural property “Japanese sword” (日本刀, nihontō): he reproduces the tōran-ba (濤瀾刃), a temper of breaking waves, and keeps up the Seki forging technique.

Offerings

In 2019 he did an offering forging at the shrine of Tado Taisha (多度大社), in Kuwana, and forged a katana of 80 cm signed 美濃国住兼國作 (Mino no kuni jū Kanekuni saku) as an offering to that shrine. A third-party profile also attributes to him the tachi whose forging a 2019 TV Aichi documentary follows for a year (see “Videos”).