Kantei
Two bare blades, a long one and a short one, and below each its mounting lacquered in dark green with gold leaves.

Osafune (Bizen) · shinshintō

Yokoyama Sukenaga (横山祐永)

The Yokoyama of Osafune, in Bizen, at the end of Edo: Sukenaga and his lineage according to Sesko, his signature with the chrysanthemum, his blades in museums and his sources

Sukenaga was a swordsmith of Osafune, in Bizen, from the Yokoyama family, under which his lineage has been registered. According to Sesko, he and Sukehira, whom Sesko gives as his father, were the driving force behind the success of the Yokoyama smiths in shinshintō. He signed with the title of Kaga no Suke and carved a chrysanthemum on the tang.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, via Wikimedia Commons

1795 – 1851
Birth and death
Bizen (Osafune)
Province
Kaga no Suke
Title
a long sword
In the LACMA
On this page
  1. Quick profile
  2. In short

Quick profile

Name
Yokoyama Sukenaga; with his title, Yokoyama Kaga no Suke Fujiwara no Ason Sukenaga (横山加賀介藤原朝臣祐永) AT
Kanji and reading
横山祐永 (Yokoyama Sukenaga) AT
Period
Shinshintō, end of Edo: 1795-1851 AT
Province
Bizen (備前, Bizen): Osafune AT
School
The Yokoyama of Osafune, of the Bizen tradition AT
Family and master
According to Sesko, second son of Yokoyama Sukehira (横山祐平), who had trained with Yamato no Kami Motohira, of Satsuma AT
Title
Kaga no Suke (加賀介), in his signatures AT
Lineage
According to Sesko, Sukehira’s first son, Sukemori (祐盛), inherited the main line of the Sukesada, and Sukenaga continued that of Sukehira; of his same generation is Yokoyama Sukekane (横山祐包) AT
Generations
The sources consulted do not document a second generation of Sukenaga PC
Rank
Not recorded in the Edo cutting lists PC
Documented fact and tradition
His family and his dates are given by Sesko; his connection with the Chōshū domain, by the Japanese Wikipedia. The LACMA holds a long sword that its record attributes to him. A second generation with his name is not recorded. AT

In short

What we know. That, according to Sesko, he lived from 1795 to 1851 and was the second son of Yokoyama Sukehira, and that father and son were the driving force of the Yokoyama smiths of Osafune in shinshintō. That, according to the Japanese Wikipedia, he was connected with the Chōshū domain and in 1851 did not accept the young Miyamoto Kanenori as a pupil. That the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) attributes a long sword to him.

How we know it. From an article by Markus Sesko on the smiths of Osafune and from the Japanese Wikipedia. From the LACMA record and from his own blades.

What we do not know. The sources consulted contain no blades of his designated by the State or by the NBTHK, no kantei description of his blades, and no second generation with his name.

Sections

  1. Sukehira · Sukenaga · the Yokoyama Life and times The Yokoyama family of Osafune, its two lines and what is known about Sukenaga.
  2. Bizen-den · kikumon · Kaga no Suke Work and style His signature, with the title and the chrysanthemum, and what his blades show.
  3. LACMA · a votive blade Famous works His sword in the Los Angeles museum and a blade forged before the altar of a shrine.
  4. Bibliography and credits Sources The sources consulted on 4 October 2026, with their link where possible, and the credit for each image.