* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Matsuda Tsuguyasu
松田次泰
Description
Career
Matsuda Tsuguyasu was born in 1948 in Kitami, Hokkaidō; his given name is Shūji. After graduating from the fine arts department of Hokkaido University of Education he turned to swordsmithing, entering the workshop of the swordsmith Takahashi Jihei in 1973. He received forging certification in 1980.
Awards and Mukansa Status
In 1996 he received the Chairman's Prize of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords, and subsequently took top prizes eight times. He received the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Award in 2005 and the Takamatsu-no-miya Memorial Prize in 2006, and was certified mukansa in 2009. In 2015 he was designated a holder of an Intangible Cultural Property of Chiba Prefecture.
Recreating Kamakura-Period Technique
In 1996 he is credited with successfully recreating the forging technique of the Kamakura period, an achievement that drew wide attention as the revival of a method unused for roughly 800 years. He has since continued to work primarily on the recreation of Ko-Bizen blades.
Research Approach
He is known for incorporating precise data measurement and chemical analysis into the forging process, drawing on current scientific knowledge in his pursuit of recreating old swords. Rather than relying solely on the oral transmission of traditional forging methods, he seeks to characterize the properties of the steel numerically.
Activity
He currently maintains a workshop in Chiba City, where he continues to forge.