Kantei
A swordsmith dressed in white, crouching beside the fire of his furnace, in a workshop with hanging tools.

Swordsmith of Ōmi (Kusatsu, Shiga) · Gassan school

Tanaka Sadatoyo (田中貞豊)

A swordsmith from Kusatsu, in Shiga, the last pupil of Gassan Sadakazu: his life, his ayasugi-hada, his prizes and his videos

The last pupil of Gassan Sadakazu, a Living National Treasure: he forges in Kusatsu, by Lake Biwa, the ayasugi-hada of the Gassan school, and in 2023 he won an NBTHK prize of excellence.

Photo: the smith himself

1994
Joins Gassan Sadakazu
1999
Licence
2001
Opens his forge in Shiga
2023
Yūshūshō niseki (優秀賞二席)
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Tanaka Sadatoyo (田中貞豊) HD
Birth
Not recorded PC
Where he forges
Kusatsu (草津, Kusatsu), Shiga prefecture, the old province of Ōmi (近江, Ōmi) AT
Master
Gassan Sadakazu (月山貞一, Gassan Sadakazu), a Living National Treasure; he was his last pupil, from 1994 AT
School
Gassan (月山, Gassan): ayasugi-hada (綾杉肌, ayasugi-hada) and suguha AT
Licence
1999; his own forge since 2001 AT
His highest prize
優秀賞二席 (yūshūshō niseki), second prize of excellence, at the 2023 NBTHK Gendai Tōshokuten HD

In short

Tanaka Sadatoyo joined Gassan Sadakazu in 1994 and was his last pupil; he obtained his licence in 1999 and in 2001, with his master’s permission, opened his forge in Shiga, his home prefecture. Sadakazu lived from 1907 to 1995 and was a Living National Treasure from 1971.

At the NBTHK Gendai Tōshokuten (現代刀職展, Gendai Tōshokuten) he was accepted in 2018, won the first effort prize in 2019 (tantō) and in 2022 (katana) and the second prize of excellence in 2023 with a katana.

He works ayasugi-hada, the “cedar-leaf” grain that distinguishes the Gassan school, with a suguha hamon, and also makes itame with notare.

Both sides of a whole katana, with the signed nakago, on a black background.
Katana of 75.8 cm, 2023 prize of excellence Photo: the smith himself

Sections

  1. From Gassan Sadakazu to Kusatsu Life and forging The apprenticeship with Gassan Sadakazu, his Kusatsu forge, his materials and his work for the guild.
  2. Ayasugi-hada · suguha · notare Work and style The ayasugi-hada of the Gassan school, the prize-winning katana of 2022 and 2023 and the gallery of his works.
  3. From the NBTHK and the Zen Nihon Tōshōkai Prizes His prizes in the competitions of the NBTHK and the Zen Nihon Tōshōkai, with what the official lists confirm.
  4. Forging and hardening, in 2011 Videos Two videos from 2011 filmed by his polisher: the forging and the yaki-ire.
  5. Bibliography Sources The NBTHK lists and catalogues, the other sources and the credit for each image.