Training
- He was born in Fukuoka, the eldest son of the mukansa swordsmith 宗勉 (Sō Tsutomu); his grandfather, 宗正光 (Sō Masamitsu), was also a swordsmith.
- He studied metallurgy at the faculty of engineering of Kyūshū University (九州大学工学部冶金学科, Kyūshū Daigaku kōgakubu yakin gakka) and worked in research at 日立金属 (Hitachi Kinzoku, Hitachi Metals).
- At 25 he became his father’s apprentice: in 1983 according to some sources, in 1984 according to others. In 1989 he received his licence from the Agency for Cultural Affairs and in 1990 he entered work for the first time at the NBTHK 新作名刀展 (Shinsaku Meitōten).
Career
- In June 2005 the NBTHK gave him the Takamatsu-no-miya Prize for a katana of February that year.
- In 2006 he was made a mukansa; Markus Sesko gives the year, and another source specifies February.
- In the swordsmiths’ association 全日本刀匠会 (Zen Nihon Tōshōkai) he was a director in 1999, an executive director in 2010 and vice-president from 2016, re-elected in 2019 and in 2022.
- At the exhibition of protective swords (お守り刀展覧会, omamori-gatana tenrankai) he showed invited work in 2008 and 2017, and in 2018 he was on the jury.