* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Fujiyasu Masahira
藤安将平
Description
Career
Fujiyasu Masahira was born in 1946 in Kawamata, Date District, Fukushima Prefecture, moving to Fukushima City around age five. While attending Fukushima Prefectural Fukushima Technical High School's precision machinery department, he was moved by Living National Treasure Miyairi Akihira's book "Tōshō Ichidai" (A Swordsmith's Life) and resolved to become his apprentice, studying under Miyairi from 1966.
Independence and Career
In 1972, the tachi he entered for the first time won the Effort Award at the 8th New Sword Exhibition. In 1975 he became independent, establishing his own forge in Tateshiyama, Fukushima City. Since then he has conducted dedicatory forgings (hōnō tanren) at renowned shrines including Gokoku Shrine, Yasukuni Shrine, Atsuta Jingū, and Kashima Jingū.
Reviving Old-Sword Techniques
From around 1990 he has researched Japanese swords of the older periods, from the late Heian through the Muromachi era, and worked to reproduce them. In 2018 he dedicated a tachi titled "Gyobutsu Tsuru-maru Kuninaga Utsushi" (a reproduction of the imperial treasure sword Tsuru-maru Kuninaga) to Fujinomori Shrine in Kyoto Prefecture, conducting a public dedicatory forging on the shrine grounds.
Reputation
As a disciple of Miyairi Akihira, he is known as a contemporary swordsmith who carries on Sōshū-tradition technique while devoting himself to reproduction work grounded in the study of old swords.
Famous Works
- 太刀 銘 御物鶴丸国永写し（藤森神社奉納・2018年）