* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Chiyozuru Korehide
千代鶴是秀
Description
Lineage and School
Chiyozuru Korehide (1874–1957), whose real name was Katō Hiroshi, was born into a family of swordsmiths who had served the Yonezawa domain in Yamagata for generations. His father was the second-generation Chōunsai Tsunatoshi, a swordsmith who served the Uesugi family of the Yonezawa domain. At age 11 he was placed in the care of his uncle, Ishidō Korekazu (Juei), eighth head of the Ishidō family of hereditary swordsmiths, and entered the craft as his apprentice.
Career
As sword demand collapsed after the Haitōrei edict of 1876 banned the wearing of swords, Korehide trained as a carpentry-tool smith. He earned high praise from the carpenters who actually used his tools and became a renowned master.
Style and Evaluation
Korehide's output extended well beyond chisels and planes to include kiridashi knives, hammers, carving knives, scissors, and razors, each judged to surpass the work of specialist craftsmen in that particular tool. What set him apart was that, although these were functional implements, he raised them to artistic works embodying "beauty in use" (yō no bi).
Significance
Born into a swordsmithing lineage yet turning to tool-smithing amid the social changes that followed the abolition of sword-wearing, Korehide established an unshakable reputation in that field. His life is positioned as a symbolic case of the transmission and transformation of smithing techniques in modern Japan.