Kantei
A long, curved tachi, with a gilded habaki, on a pale cloth in a dark display case.

Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Itame · suguha · hakikake

Work and style

A calm Yamato temper with a thick nie that gives it strength, on a tight, clean itame that is not the usual one of his province.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. In his blades

Kantei keys

They are given by the NBTHK, in its journal of September 2016:

  • Jihada. It is not the nagare-hada typical of Yamato: it is usually a very refined and tight itame, strong and clear, the hallmark of Kanenaga.
  • Hamon. The common Yamato one, with kuichigai-ba, nijūba, uchinoke and hotsure. His is low in the lower half and widens in the upper, sometimes different on each side; the nie is thick and sparse, and gives strength to a calm temper.
  • Bōshi. Yakizume or with a short turn-back with ō-maru, with a strong hakikake at the point, a Yamato feature.
  • Sugata. On the tachi of the Shijōnawate shrine: shinogi-zukuri and iori-mune, wide shinogi-ji, thick blade, strong sori and a short chū-kissaki; 73.7 cm. The Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights, on the one in the Tokyo National Museum, the elegant Yamato shape.
  • Nakago and mei. Hardly any of his blades keep the original tang: almost all are shortened, according to the record of the National Treasure. On the Shijōnawate tachi, the shortened tang has two holes and the two-character signature, 包永 (Kanenaga), has the 包 (kane) small and the 永 (naga) large, next to the back.

In his blades

  • The Shijōnawate tachi, according to the NBTHK: tight itame with dense ji-nie and fine chikei; chū-suguha with ko-gunome, many ashi and yō, more than in his usual work, and kinsuji.
  • The National Treasure of the Seikadō, according to the official record: almost certainly by the first Kanenaga and the best of his work; the Tegai style is clearly visible, and the nie of the temper shines strongly.
  • The one in the Tokyo National Museum, according to the official record: a representative work, with his characteristic style; 71.3 cm long, 2.3 cm of sori and 19.8 cm of tang.