Mutsu-no-kami Daido

Mutsu-no-kami Daido was a swordsmith from Seki in Mino Province (present-day Seki City, Gifu Prefecture), active from the late Muromachi period into the Shintō era, whose original signature was Kanemichi. According to the sword site Isao Machii's Katana no Kura (isao-machii.org), Daido belonged to the lineage of the Seki Muroya Kanezai smiths and initially forged in the Seki area. In 1569 he received the character "Dai" (大) from Emperor Ōgimachi and changed his signature from Kanemichi to Daido; works from this period bear the signatures "Ōkanemichi" and "Mutsu-no-kami Ōkanemichi," and it is inferred that he also received the title Mutsu-no-kami around this time.

Daido later moved to Gifu, and around 1590 produced a collaborative work with Horikawa Kunihiro, who was traveling to the Kanto region, signed "Nōshū Gifu-jū Daido, Shinano-no-kami Kunihiro," attesting to an exchange between the two. Around 1593 Daido moved with his four sons to the capital, settling in Yamashiro Province (present-day Kyoto) to continue forging. This group of smiths became the founders of what would later be called the Mishina school of Kyoto swordsmiths.

Daido's work is characterized by finely forged, tightly grained moku-hada steel with a somewhat rough surface, tempered with a bright, clear gunome-chōji-midare hamon; sunagashi is prominent in many of his pieces. Surviving dated works include those from 1574, 1576, 1585, and 1590.

Daido's four sons — Iga-no-kami Kinmichi, Echigo-no-kami Kinmichi, Tanba-no-kami Yoshimichi, and Etchū-no-kami Masatoshi — all became accomplished swordsmiths in their own right, elevating the Mishina school into one of Kyoto's foremost groups of smiths. Daido is also known as the grandfather of Shinano-no-kami Daido, who was active in Mino; as the smith who carried Mino forging technique to the capital, he holds an important place in the sword history of the Shintō era.