Takada Yukinaga

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Takada Yukinaga is a smith name used by several generations of the Takada school of Bungo, from the end of the Keichō era to the Manji era, in the early Edo period. The school, founded in the Nanbokuchō period by Tomoyuki, declined when its patrons, the Ōtomo, fell from power, and recovered in the 17th century; its smiths of this phase returned to signing with the Fujiwara surname and are therefore known as Fujiwara Takada. Yukinaga signed 豊州高田住藤原行長 (Hōshū Takada jū Fujiwara Yukinaga) or, more briefly, 藤原行長 (Fujiwara Yukinaga). His blades have the typical Kanbun shape: shallow curvature, a short kissaki and a marked taper from base to tip. The hada is a tight ko-mokume; the hamon is a bright suguha leaning towards a gentle notare, with ko-ashi and ko-nie and a tight nioiguchi, close in character to Hizen work. A noted personal habit is that the hardening runs into the machi area, leaving a reflection there resembling mizukage. He also tempered ko-midare. The build, with a high and wide shinogi, reflects the practical character attributed to the school.