Kantei
An unmounted katana, whole and upright, on a black background, with the tang at the bottom.

Bizen · Osafune · Sue-Bizen

Osafune Kiyomitsu (長船清光)

A line of swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen, who signed Kiyomitsu in the 16th century, within Sue-Bizen: its two best-known names, its style, its work and its sources

Kiyomitsu (清光, Kiyomitsu) is a name signed by several generations of swordsmiths of Osafune, in Bizen Province, in the 16th century. It is one of the great names of Sue-Bizen, and its two best-known swordsmiths are Gorōzaemon-no-jō and Magoemon-no-jō.

Kyūshū National Museum, via ColBase

1550
His katana in the Kyūshū National Museum
1553–1555
Gorōzaemon, called to Tatsuno
About ten
Blades he forged at Tatsuno
Wazamono
In the Yamada cutting list
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Kiyomitsu, of Osafune; the two best known sign with their title: 五郎左衛門尉 (Gorōzaemon-no-jō) and 孫右衛門尉 (Magoemon-no-jō) HD
Kanji and reading
長船清光 (Osafune Kiyomitsu) · 清光 (Kiyomitsu) HD
Period
16th century: the NBTHK places work with the title of Magoemon-no-jō around the Eishō era (1504–1520), and the peak of Gorōzaemon-no-jō around the Tenbun era (天文, Tenbun; the NBTHK writes Tenmon, 1532–1554). HD
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen): Osafune; Gorōzaemon-no-jō also forged at Tatsuno, in Harima HD
School
Osafune (長船派, Osafune-ha): Sue-Bizen (末備前, Sue-Bizen) HD
Master
Not recorded in the sources consulted PC
Generations
Several with the same name, according to Kotobank and the Kyūshū National Museum; none of the sources consulted gives their order or their kinship AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his signed and dated blades, and Gorōzaemon-no-jō’s forging at Tatsuno. With no citable source: that Magoemon-no-jō was the son of Gorōzaemon-no-jō. HD

In short

What we know. There are blades by Kiyomitsu of Osafune dated 1550 and 1555. Gorōzaemon-no-jō Kiyomitsu worked at Tatsuno between 1553 and 1555, called there by his lord, Akamatsu Masahide. For the NBTHK, the works of the two best-known Kiyomitsu share the same style.

How we know it. From the blades themselves, from the records of the Kyūshū National Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and from the studies of the NBTHK.

What we do not know. How many Kiyomitsu there were, in what order, how they were related and when each was born or died.

Sections

  1. Gorōzaemon · Magoemon · Tatsuno Life and times A name over several generations, its two best-known Kiyomitsu and the forge at Tatsuno.
  2. Suguha · hitatsura · mokume Work and style Kantei keys to the work: the shape, the steel, the temper, the point and the signature.
  3. Kyūshū · Tatsuno · New York Famous works Its blades in museums, the NBTHK’s katana of 1555 and its place in the cutting list.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.