* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kanbayashi Tsunehira
上林恒平
Description
Career
Kanbayashi Tsunehira was born in 1949 in Fujishima Town, Higashitagawa District, Yamagata Prefecture (now Tsuruoka City). His real name is Kanbayashi Yūji. After graduating from Yamagata Prefectural Tsuruoka Technical High School in 1967, he studied sword making as a pupil of the Living National Treasure swordsmith Miyairi Yukihira (Miyairi Akihira). In 1973 he received approval for sword making from the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Awards and Mukansa Certification
Beginning with an Effort Prize at the 1973 New Sword Masterpiece Exhibition of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, he went on to win seven special prizes, including the Takamatsu-no-miya Prize twice, and was certified as mukansa. Mukansa is a qualification granted to smiths who have won special prizes multiple times at the society's competitions, and it represents the highest rank for a swordsmith.
Prefectural Intangible Cultural Property
In 2008 he was recognized as a holder of the Yamagata Prefecture-designated Intangible Cultural Property (sword forging).
Blade Carving
While making swords, he studied metal chasing and blade carving (horimono) under Yanagimura Senju. The ability to carve designs into one's own blades is said to be a skill held by only a limited number of contemporary swordsmiths.
Activities
He currently maintains a forge in Yamagata City, where he continues to make swords while devoting considerable effort to training successors. As a smith with ties to Yamagata, his works have been featured in exhibitions including those at the Chidō Museum.