Naoe Shizu Kanetomo

直江志津兼友

Period

Nanbokuchō period

School

Naoe Shizu school

Active Years

mid-14th century (Nanbokuchō period)

Tradition

Mino tradition

Description

Founder of the Naoe Shizu

Kanetomo was a swordsmith active during the Nanbokuchō period in Naoe village, Tagi District, Mino Province (present-day Yōrō, Yōrō District, Gifu Prefecture). He is traditionally regarded as one of the founders of the Naoe Shizu school, a line established when members of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji's school settled in Naoe village. Kanetomo is said to have been either a son or a disciple of Kaneuji, and together with Kanetsugu and Kanenobu he is known as one of the leading smiths of the Naoe Shizu.

Style

Naoe Shizu inherited the style of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji, who had brought the Sōshū tradition to Mino, while strengthening its distinctly Mino character. Kanetomo's works have a jitetsu of itame-hada mixed with masame, and their hamon is notare combined with gunome, with togari-ba interspersed; ji-nie appears readily. Compared with his teacher Kaneuji, his works are somewhat more refined in range, and they formed the basis of the later Mino tradition.

Evaluation

Works of the Naoe Shizu are mostly unsigned pieces with kiwame attributions, and reliably signed works are few. Nevertheless, as a school that bridged the Sōshū and Mino traditions, it holds an important place in the history of Japanese swords, and it includes works designated as Jūyō Tōken. Kanetomo is highly regarded in later times as one of its founders.