Sugata
A wide blade, with little difference in width between the base and the point, shallow curvature, a long chū-kissaki and sakizori: the shape of the katana of the late Muromachi period. Muneyaki is frequent, another feature of his time, according to the NBTHK.
Jihada
Itame with nagare and a whitish ji, common among the Seki swordsmiths of his period.
Hamon
A somewhat subdued nioiguchi (匂口) and a midare of round-headed gunome, togariba and yahazu, which rises and falls a great deal, with few ashi in the valleys. The tall, wide gunome, with a waist, recall a narrow chōji, and in some valleys an inverted chōji, repeated: this is the 兼房乱れ (Kanefusa-midare). On tantō and wakizashi it usually runs from the base to the point. The NBTHK warns that the Kanefusa-midare is not exclusive to the Kanefusa: many Seki swordsmiths make it, and it perhaps took the name because the head of Seki, Kanefusa, made more work and more of it survives.
Bōshi
A bōshi (帽子) of strong midare-komi, with a komaru or togari tip leaning somewhat towards the edge: the 地蔵帽子 (jizō-bōshi), which in profile looks like the head of a jizō.
Nakago and mei
A nakago with a square mune, a pointed kurijiri tip and marked katte-sagari file marks. The signature with the title goes below the hole, and the date, on the ura side, next to the mune. In the period when he signed Kanefusa, the file marks of the katana were takanoha, and higaki on the tantō and hira-zukuri wakizashi. He signed 若狭守氏房作 (Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa saku), 若狭守藤原氏房作 (Wakasa no Kami Fujiwara Ujifusa saku) or 若狭守藤原氏房造 (Wakasa no Kami Fujiwara Ujifusa zō).
Kantei keys
In NBTHK kantei no. 821 (June 2025), the answer was a katana of his; Iwami no Kami Kunifusa was also accepted, and the NBTHK named as possible confusions Hida no Kami Ujifusa, 和泉守兼定 (Izumi no Kami Kanesada) and Iga no Kami Kinmichi. His son hardly makes Kanefusa-midare: he prefers his father’s notare-midare, with large gunome, a dense nioiguchi, more ha-nie and mura-nie.
Gallery
The same wakizashi: six views of the upper part, with the midare temper and the bonji. Photo: dealer in Japan