* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Naoe Shizu Kanetomo
直江志津兼友
Description
Founder of the Naoe Shizu school
Kanetomo was a swordsmith active in Naoe village, Mino Province (near present-day Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture), during the Nanbokuchō period. He is said to be the founder of the "Naoe Shizu" school, which arose when the lineage of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji relocated to Naoe village. Theories about the founder differ — one holds it to be Kanetoshi, the younger brother of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji, and another Kanetomo, a disciple from Kaneuji's time in Yamato — but in either case Kanetomo is known as a representative smith of Naoe Shizu.
Style
Naoe Shizu was a school that inherited the style of Shizu Saburō Kaneuji — who transmitted the Sōshū tradition to Mino — while strengthening its distinctive character as a Mino-tradition lineage. Kanetomo's work too is characterized by an itame ground mixed with masame, and a hamon of notare interspersed with gunome and pointed togariba, with abundant ji-nie. Compared with his teacher Kaneuji, the workmanship is somewhat more orderly, and it shaped the keynote of later Mino-tradition work.
Evaluation
Many Naoe Shizu works are unsigned attributions, and reliably signed pieces are few; but as a school that bridged the Sōshū and Mino traditions, it occupies an important place in sword history, and works designated Jūyō Tōken and Important Cultural Property are among them. Kanetomo is highly evaluated by posterity as its founder.
Famous Works
- 刀 無銘 直江志津（重要刀剣）