Kantei

Aki · shintō · Keichō era

Teruhiro (輝廣)

Higo no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro, the Mino swordsmith who followed Fukushima Masanori to Hiroshima, and the Teruhiro of Aki

Higo no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro (肥後守藤原輝広), from Mino, served Fukushima Masanori in the Keichō era and followed him from Owari to Hiroshima, in Aki province. After the fall of the Fukushima, the Teruhiro entered the service of the Asano house, which kept them as swordsmiths until the end of the Edo period: in Aki there were more than ten with that name.

the Keichō era
Active around
wazamono
Cutting rank
More than ten, in Aki
Swordsmiths with that name
One katana, in 2020
Works on display
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Teruhiro; he signed Higo no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro AT
Kanji and reading
輝廣 (Teruhiro), also written 輝広 (Teruhiro); in the signature, 肥後守藤原輝広 (Higo no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro) HD
Period
Shintō, of the Keichō era (1596-1615) AT
Province
Born in Mino (美濃); worked in Aki (安芸), in Hiroshima AT
School
Teruhiro of Aki, swordsmiths of the Asano house AT
Master
Umetada Myōju, according to the tradition recorded by the NBTHK (“it is supposed”) and according to the Sekai Daihyakka Jiten AT
Title
Higo no Kami (肥後守); the year is not recorded AT
Cutting rank
wazamono (業物), fourth grade of the Yamada cutting list; maegashira of the west in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking (1933, published in 1935) AT
What is documented
A wakizashi discussed by the NBTHK (2015) and a signed katana in the “Umetada” exhibition (2020) HD
The tradition
That he learned in the workshop of Umetada Myōju in Kyoto, like his son-in-law, Harima no Kami Teruhiro AT
What is not on record
His dates of birth and death and the year of his title PC

In short

According to the NBTHK, few blades by Higo no Kami Teruhiro survive, far fewer than by his son-in-law and successor, Harima no Kami Teruhiro, and the work of the two is hard to tell apart. They make the wide shapes of the shintō of the Keichō era, with a tight ko-itame with nagare and a notare with a dense, clear and bright nioiguchi, which the NBTHK compares with that of the first Tadayoshi. According to tradition, Teruhiro learned, like the first Tadayoshi, in the school of Umetada Myōju.

Sections

  1. From Mino to Hiroshima Life and times Mino, Kyoto, the Fukushima and the Asano, and the Teruhiro who came after him.
  2. Kantei keys Work and style Sugata, jihada, hamon, bōshi and the signature, and how to tell him apart from Harima no Kami and from Tadayoshi.
  3. Exhibitions and lists Famous works The few blades discussed and his place in the Yamada cutting list and in Tomita’s ranking.
  4. Bibliography Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026.