Soboro Sukehiro

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Soboro Sukehiro stands at the head of the line of the Sukehiro (助広) of Ōsaka in Settsu province, the starting point of the Tsuda (津田) school. Born in Tsuda, he trained in Ōsaka under the first Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke (河内守国助), one of the founders of the city's shintō tradition, and worked there through the middle decades of the 17th century until his death in 1663. He was the adoptive father and teacher of Echizen no Kami Sukehiro (越前守助広), who followed his manner in his early years before developing the tōran-ba. The nickname comes from the kana inscription ソボロ (soboro) added next to the signature on some of his works; its meaning is unclear, and one traditional explanation links it to the ragged clothes he wore. His blades have a shallow curvature, a fine ko-mokume hada and a hamon of chōji with long ashi or of gunome midare, in keeping with Kunisuke's workshop.