Kantei
A long, curved, unmounted tachi on a white cloth, lit against a black background.

Swordsmith of Fukuoka Ichimonji (Bizen) · tachi · kotō

Sukezane (助真)

A Fukuoka Ichimonji swordsmith, in Bizen, of the mid-Kamakura period, whom tradition takes to Kamakura, with two tachi that are National Treasures: his life and times, his work, his famous works and his sources

助真 (Sukezane) was a swordsmith of the Fukuoka Ichimonji school, in Bizen province, in the middle of the Kamakura period. According to tradition he moved to Kamakura, which is why he is called Kamakura Ichimonji. His chōji-midare is the most vigorous of the school, and two of his tachi are National Treasures: the Nikkō Sukezane, which belonged to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the one in the Tokyo National Museum.

Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2
Tachi that are National Treasures
9
Important Cultural Properties according to the Japanese Wikipedia
71.2 cm
Length of the Nikkō Sukezane, according to the official database
助真 (Sukezane)
Signature
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Sukezane; also called Tōgenji, 藤源次助眞 (Tōgenji Sukezane), and Kamakura Ichimonji AT
Kanji and reading
助真 (Sukezane) HD
Period
Mid-Kamakura; birth and death unknown AT
Province
Bizen and, according to tradition, Kamakura, in Sagami AT
School or tradition
Fukuoka Ichimonji, of Bizen AT
Father
助成 (Sukeshige) according to the Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus; 助房 (Sukefusa) according to the Nihon kokugo daijiten AT
Documented fact and tradition
Documented: his signed blades and his two National Treasures. Tradition: his father, his move to Kamakura and his place among the Sagami swordsmiths. AT

In short

What we know. The database of cultural properties of the Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkachō) describes the Nikkō Sukezane, a National Treasure since 1951, and the e-Museum of the Tokyo National Museum his other National Treasure tachi; both bear his two-character signature.

How we know it. His life is tradition: none of it is dated. It comes from the Japanese Wikipedia, the dictionaries and Markus Sesko’s commentaries, which do not always agree.

What we do not know. The official records of his Important Cultural Properties, which are given here according to the Japanese Wikipedia.

Sections

  1. Bizen · Kamakura · Sagami Life and times His school, his father according to two different dictionaries, and his move to Kamakura, told in two ways.
  2. Chōji-midare · nie · ikubi-kissaki Work and style The kantei keys of the Nikkō Sukezane: the steel, the temper, the point, the shape, the tang and the signature.
  3. Nikkō Sukezane · National Treasures Famous works His two National Treasures, his Important Cultural Properties and what the treatises say about him.
  4. Tokyo National Museum Videos Two short videos by visitors: the tachi of the Tokyo National Museum in its display case.
  5. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link, and the credit for each image.