Kantei
A seated older man holds a long unmounted blade, in front of a pale curtain.

Photo: the smith himself

From Fukuoka to Bizen Osafune

Life and forging

A late apprentice, at the age of 30, who settled in Bizen Osafune in 2003 and still forges and smelts his own steel there.

On this page
  1. Year by year
  2. From Bizen to Fukuoka, and back
  3. The Denshūjo
  4. The forge, in pictures

Year by year

The sword

History

  1. The sword

    Born in Fukuoka AT

    Born on 6 November 1956 (Shōwa 31) in Sawara (早良区, Sawara-ku), in Fukuoka. He studies at Fukuoka University (福岡大学, Fukuoka Daigaku).

  2. The sword

    Apprentice at 30 AT

    At 30 he becomes an apprentice to make swords.

  3. The sword

    To Bizen Osafune AT

    He buys a workshop in Bizen Osafune, moves there and, with another smith, opens the 備前長船日本刀傳習所 (Bizen Osafune nihontō denshūjo).

  4. The sword

    Signs Kuninori AT

    A sword from this year, of iron-sand steel, bears his signature of the time, 國典 (Kuninori).

  5. The sword

    The Denshūjo in the media AT

    From 2010 to 2013 the Denshūjo appears on the American PBS, Fuji TV and NHK, and in the Yomiuri, Asahi and Mainichi newspapers.

  6. The sword

    At 65 AT

    On turning 65 he says he has held a swordsmith’s licence for about 30 years.

  7. The sword

    Apprentices AT

    He trains apprentices, two in 2024.

  8. The sword

    His tamahagane AT

    He smelts in the workshop’s tatara and works with his own tamahagane; he is preparing a long tantō (寸延び, sun-nobi).

From Bizen to Fukuoka, and back

He says he descends from the people of Bizen-Fukuoka (備前福岡, Bizen Fukuoka) who followed the Kuroda (黒田, Kuroda) to Hakata. He presents himself as a swordsmith of Osafune, “the mecca of the Japanese sword”, with more than 30 years in the craft.

The Denshūjo

At the 備前長船日本刀傳習所 (Bizen Osafune nihontō denshūjo) two smiths work today, Ueda Sukesada (上田祐定, Ueda Sukesada) and he, with their apprentices. In June 2025 he was forging in front of a group of 25 visitors from Hong Kong.