Furukawa Kiyoyuki

Furukawa Kiyoyuki was a modern swordsmith born in Nagano Prefecture in 1948, with the given name Nobuo. According to the touken-world.jp directory of contemporary swordsmiths, he majored in applied physics at Tokyo University of Science, but while a student he was captivated by the beauty of Japanese swords at an exhibition of masterpiece blades at the Shinano Art Museum and resolved to become a swordsmith. After graduating, he trained within the Miyairi school and received authorization to forge swords from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1978.

Kiyoyuki studied the Soshu tradition within the lineage descending from the Living National Treasure Miyairi Yukihira, a smith from Sakaki town in Nagano. He specialized in Soshu-den blades distinguished by their beautiful notare (undulating) hamon, resembling waves rolling ashore. Soshu-den — brought to its height in the Kamakura period by Masamune and his peers — is characterized by a bold, brilliant style with vigorous nie activity. Kiyoyuki spent many years researching and recreating Kamakura-period swords, bringing the spirit of the old masters into his modern work.

After winning the Kanzan Prize at the new-work exhibition in 1987, he earned numerous special and excellence prizes, establishing his standing as a smith. In 2007 he was designated an Intangible Cultural Property of Suzaka City, Nagano, and in 2009 he received the NBTHK Honorary Chairman's Prize at the new-work exhibition, earning the rank of Mukansa — the highest honor below Living National Treasure. He died in 2015 at the age of 67, remembered as a modern smith who pursued the Soshu tradition in the land of Shinano.