From Ōmi to Osaka
According to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, Sukenao was born in 1639 (Kan'ei 16) in the village of Takagi (高木), in the district of Yasu (野洲), in Ōmi province. He went to Osaka and studied with Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro, the second of that name. The Tokyo National Museum gives the same origin and adds that he lived in the 鎗屋町 (Yariya-machi) quarter, in Osaka.
Family and master
According to the tradition recorded by the two museums, Sukenao later married a sister of his master (妹婿, imōto-muko). The Japanese Wikipedia, in its article on Sukehiro, counts him among his relatives as his sister’s husband, alongside Sukehiro’s brother, Tsuda Echizen no Kami Teruhiro (照広). The Nipponica encyclopaedia says something else: that Sukehiro’s style influenced his adopted son (養子, yōshi), Ōmi no Kami Sukenao. The sources consulted do not settle whether he was a brother-in-law or an adopted son.
Ōmi no Kami and the surname Tsuda
According to the Fuji Art Museum, he received the title of Ōmi no Kami (近江守) in 1669 (Kanbun 9), and the katana of 1678 in the Tokyo National Museum already bears it in the signature. According to the Fuji Art Museum, he signs with the surname Tsuda (津田) from 1682 (Tenna 2), and from the Tenna era he puts his master’s name in front: 津田近江守助直 (Tsuda Ōmi no Kami Sukenao). Sukehiro died that same year, on the fourteenth day of the third month of 1682, according to the Japanese Wikipedia.
His last years
The Tokyo National Museum dates his tachi of 1690 (Genroku 3) to the age of 52, in his period of maturity. The last known dated work is from 1693 (Genroku 6), according to the NBTHK. The year of his death is not recorded in the sources consulted.