Kantei
A long blade from both sides, one above the other, on a black background, with grooves and carvings; on one of the tangs, a carved chrysanthemum flower.

Photo: dealer in Japan

Bizen-den · kikumon · Kaga no Suke

Work and style

There are few descriptions of his way of forging in the sources consulted; his blades and his signatures say a little more.

On this page
  1. Kantei keys
  2. His signature
  3. Gallery

Kantei keys

  • Tradition. Bizen-den, that of the smiths of Osafune.
  • Hamon. On the katana in the photos, an irregular temper (乱れ, midare) along the blade.
  • Horimono. The same katana bears grooves and carvings on both sides.
  • Nakago and mei. On one side, the signature with the title Kaga no Suke; on the other, a chrysanthemum (菊紋, kikumon) and the character 一 (ichi).

The sources consulted contain no description of the jihada or the bōshi of his blades.

His signature

The title of a video by Nagano Teruo transcribes the signature of an 1841 katana by Sukenaga: (菊紋)一 山陽道備前国長船郷 鍛冶正統横山加賀介藤原朝臣祐永 ((kikumon) ichi, San'yōdō Bizen no kuni Osafune-gō, kaji seitō Yokoyama Kaga no Suke Fujiwara no Ason Sukenaga), that is, the chrysanthemum and the “one”, the region and the province, and “smith of the legitimate line”.