Kobayashi Yasuhiro

小林康宏

Period

Taishō–Shōwa (1914–1987)

School

Independent (no formal school lineage recorded)

Active Years

Shōwa 45 (1970), certified as swordsmith – Shōwa 62 (1987), died

Tradition

Kotō (old-sword) revival; independent forging methods

Description

Career

Kobayashi Yasuhiro (1914–1987) was born in Toyotomi Village, Higashiyatsushiro District, Yamanashi Prefecture. After graduating from a commercial school in Kōfu, he ran a record store in Tokyo, but was drafted into the Imperial Army, and it is said that during the war he engaged in pacification work for a special service agency. After the war, in Shōwa 21 (1946), he was demobilized and founded a refrigeration equipment company whose customers were U.S. military bases in Japan.

Turn to Swordsmithing

Around Shōwa 35 (1960), an encounter with swordsmith Akimoto Shōyū sparked his interest in researching sword materials. Around Shōwa 43 (1968) he closed his company and set up a forge in Takanawa, Tokyo, and on January 20, Shōwa 45 (1970), he was officially authorized as a swordsmith. In Shōwa 52 (1977) he returned to his hometown of Yamanashi Prefecture.

Style and Reputation

Researching the recreation of kotō (old swords), he developed an original forging method in which zuku (pig iron) and wrought iron such as Swedish steel are heated together in a sealed furnace of his own design, and forged as maru-gitae without a shingane core, thereby producing exceptionally tough Japanese swords. In martial-arts circles he became known as a maker of "zantetsu-ken" (swords that cut iron), and he was also blessed with many disciples.