* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kawashima Tadayoshi II
川島忠善（二代）
Description
Lineage of Kawashima Tadayoshi II
Kawashima Tadayoshi II was a modern swordsmith active in the Shōwa period, who lived in Nita Town, Nita District, Shimane Prefecture. Born as the son of the first Kawashima Tadayoshi, he succeeded to the smithy 'Unshū Chūzen', which his father had founded. Tadayoshi II inherited his father's sword-making skills and devoted himself in Shimane to making swords in the Bizen tradition.
Style and the Bizen Tradition
Kawashima Tadayoshi II specialized in the Bizen tradition and is valued for having produced, in the form of dignified tachi with deep curvature, beautiful jigane and splendid hamon. The Bizen tradition is a style characterized by itame-hada jigane with midare-utsuri, and by hamon of chōji-midare and gunome of striking beauty, and Tadayoshi embodied this tradition in the modern era.
Mukansa Certification and the Smithing Tradition
Owing to this skill, Kawashima Tadayoshi II was granted the Mukansa qualification by the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (NBTHK). Mukansa is the highest rank after Living National Treasure, attained only by smiths who have repeatedly won special prizes at the Shinsaku Meitōten (New Sword Exhibition). Alongside his sword making, Tadayoshi II also produced cutlery such as kitchen knives, sickles and hoes at 'Unshū Chūzen', the smithy his father had founded, and he worked to preserve traditional smithing techniques. By carrying both the making of Japanese swords and traditional local smithing, he stands as a figure who passes the local smithing culture on to the present day.