Currently, many skilled swordsmiths are in Japan. I am good friends with two of them. One is Mr. Yoshihara Yoshindo (吉原義人), and the other is Mr. Yamamura Tsunahiro (山村綱廣). I met them when we were in our twenties.
I met Mr. Yoshihara at one of the sword meetings I attended with my father in the early 1970s. Since then, we have occasionally run into each other at various sword gatherings from time to time. His son, Yoshihara Yoshikazu (吉原義一), is also a well-known swordsmith. And his grandson has also decided to become a swordsmith. Naturally, my friend Yoshihara was very excited to train him. He often shares fascinating stories whenever we meet at various sword meetings. Here are a few of them.
Mr. Yoshihara once had an apprentice from a Middle Eastern country, sent by his king. The apprentice lived in Yoshihara‘s house with other Japanese apprentices. He was a quiet and good apprentice who had no problems with food and ate Japanese food with the other Japanese apprentices.
Mr. Yoshihara also mentioned that a king from a European country once visited his studio. The king gave Yoshihara a photo of himself, with his autograph, as a gift. Another story was about a famous Hollywood movie director who ordered a couple of swords and visited his house. It seems this was around the same time I ordered a sword for myself. The photo below shows the sword he made for me at that time.
Yamamura-kun (we add “kun” at the end of male friends’ names and “san” for female friends), and we were students together in Mori Sensei‘s sword class. He was the top student; I was almost the last. He is a direct descendant of Goro Nyudo Masamune (五郎入道正宗), the twenty-fourth generation. Back then, he had a store almost right in front of the Hachiman-gu Shrine (八幡宮) in Kamakura, and later moved his studio near Kamakura Station.
We had one more person in our group, Mr. Kurokawa (黒川). He owns a large sword store in Tokyo called “Soken-do (霜剣堂).” We were all residents of Kamakura at the time. We used to gather at Yamamura-kun’s store in front of Hachiman-gu Shrine, enjoying good times and hanging out together.
Below is the information about their stores.
To order a sword, you can contact: Yoshihara Yoshindo (吉原義人) 11-12,８Chome Takasago, Katsushika-Ku,Tokyo 〒125 Japan Tel (03)3607 – 5255
Masamune Kougei (正宗工芸) 13-29 Onari-cho, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa, 〒248-0012 Japan Tel (0467) 22- 3962
Soken-Do (霜剣堂) 28-1, 6-Chome, Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 〒150-0001 Japan Tel (03) 3499 – 8080
My sword made by Mr. Yoshihara
吉原新刀 (Yoshihara sword description)
- Shape: Koshizori Chu-gissaki (smaller Chu-gissaki) Bo-hi (one groove)
- Boshi: Midare-komi and Komaru-kaeshi (round turnback)
- Hamon: Komidare Nioi
- Hada : very fine Komokume almost Muji
- Mei: Kaji Yoshindo Heisei 二十三 nen 二月 Kichijitu
- It means: Sword smith Yoshindo Heisei year 23(2011) February good day
Study of Japanese Sword 