Kantei
Upper half of a wakizashi blade seen from both sides, with the point at the top and a hamon of large waves, on a black background.

Ōsaka · shinshintō · tōran-ba

Ozaki Suketaka (尾崎助隆)

One of the swordsmiths who revived Sukehiro’s tōran-ba at the end of the Edo period: what is known of him, his style and his sources

Ozaki Suketaka (尾崎助隆), who lived from 1753 to 1805, was one of the swordsmiths who, at the end of the Edo period, revived the tōran-ba of Tsuda Sukehiro, the great-wave hamon of the Ōsaka shintō. The sources consulted say little about his life, and much about his hamon.

Photo: dealer in Japan

1753-1805
Birth and death
tōran-ba
Hamon
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Ozaki Suketaka AT
Kanji and reading
尾崎助隆 (Ozaki Suketaka) AT
Period
End of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th (shinshintō). A wakizashi of his is dated the eighth month of 1797 (Kansei 9). AT
Province
Settsu (摂津), in Ōsaka, by his school; Sesko also relates that he trained swordsmiths from Tokushima in Edo II
School
Ōsaka shintō: Sesko counts him among its masters, with Sukehiro, Ikkanshi Tadatsuna and Shinkai AT
Master
Not recorded in the sources consulted PC
Title
Not recorded in the sources consulted PC
Rank
He does not appear in the wazamono lists. The Ōsaka Suketaka (助高) on those lists is a different swordsmith. PC
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: no work of his in the national museums or in Bunka Isan Online; the NBTHK names him among the swordsmiths who recreated Sukehiro’s tōran-ba. Tradition: no legend of his own in the sources consulted. AT

In short

Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro created the tōran-ba in Ōsaka in the Kanbun era (1661-1673), and many shinshintō swordsmiths sought to recreate it. The NBTHK distinguishes two families: those of Suketaka, Katō Tsunahide and Tsunatoshi follow Sukehiro’s pattern; those of Tegarayama Masashige and Ichige Tokurin, that of Suishinshi Masahide. His jihada is so fine that it is sometimes described as nashiji, like that of the great Ōsaka masters.

Sections

  1. Ōsaka and Edo Life and times His dates, his school and the swordsmiths of Tokushima.
  2. Sukehiro’s tōran-ba Work and style The tōran-ba, the jihada and how to tell him from the other imitators of Sukehiro.
  3. No works in national museums Famous works In museums, in the official databases and in the lists.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 5 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.