和泉守兼重 KANESHIGE （虎徹の師）

和泉守兼重

Izumi no kami Kaneshige

特別保存刀剣

Tokubetsu Hozon

The Mie Prefecture(三重県) is not included among the Five Traditions (五箇伝 Go-kaden) of Japanese sword-making, which consist of the Yamato大和, Yamashiro山城, Bizen備前, Soshu 相州, and Mino美濃 schools. However, it has produced renowned swordsmiths such as Muramasa村正, famous for its legendary cursed swords, and Izumi no Kami Kaneshige和泉守兼重, a swordsmith employed by the Tōdō family 藤堂家 of Ise Province (伊勢国 、now Mie Prefecture).

Izumi no Kami Kaneshige was an influential swordsmith active in the early Edo period and is well-known as the master of Nagasone Kotetsu 長曽祢虎徹. Born in Echizen Province (越前国 、present-day northeastern Fukui Prefecture), he moved to Edo around the beginning of the Kan'ei era (1624–1644) and became a court swordsmith for the Tōdō family in Ise Province (modern Mie Prefecture). There is a legend that he was introduced to the Tōdō family with the help of the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, who was a personal acquaintance of Kaneshige. It is said that the two swords beloved by Musashi were inscribed with the signature "Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kaneshige," but their current whereabouts are unknown.

Regarding the workmanship, Kaneshige's swords typically feature a shallow curvature with straight hamon or gunome-midare patterns. Some blades exhibit a Mino-style undulating wave pattern mixed with pointed shapes. The steel used is characterized by a combination of "koitamehada" (small itame pattern) and "masamehada" (straight grain), showing influences from the style of the first-generation Echizen Yasutsugu. The signatures found on his works include "Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kaneshige," "Izumi Daijō Fujiwara Kaneshige," and "Kazusa no Suke Kaneshige."

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刃長NAGASA：70.8cm

元幅MOTOHABA：3.1cm

元重MOTOKASANE：7mm

先幅SAKIHABA：2.15cm

先重SAKIKASANE：5mm