* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Horii Toshihide
堀井俊秀
Description
Horii Toshihide's Training
Horii Toshihide was born in Meiji 19 (1886) and was a swordsmith representative of the Taishō and early Shōwa eras. His real name was Kanekichi, and his initial name was Kaneaki. In Meiji 37 (1904), he became a disciple of the swordsmith Horii Taneaki, and in Meiji 39 (1906) he began making swords at the Zuisen-ji forge in Kamakura.
Succession to the Horii School
In Meiji 44 (1911), Toshihide became the adopted son and son-in-law of Horii Taneaki, and later succeeded as the third generation of the Horii school. In Taishō 2 (1913), the Sword Preservation Society bestowed on him the character “Hide” from Suishinshi Masahide, the master of the Shinshintō, and he took the name “Hideaki.” Furthermore, in Shōwa 8 (1933), when a crown prince was born and named “Prince Akihito,” he changed his name to “Toshihide” out of deference to that name.
Commission for the Gensui-tō
Toshihide won the Prime Minister's Prize and the Minister of Education Prize at the Japanese sword exhibitions, earning high acclaim. In Shōwa 17 (1942), he was commissioned to produce ten gensui-tō (Marshal's swords), which are regarded as the highest honor for a swordsmith. Toshihide died in Shōwa 18 (1943), but his lineage continued as the Horii school, and together with his adoptive father Horii Taneaki, he left a significant mark on the history of modern swords.