* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Senjuin Shigehiro
千手院重弘
Description
Lineage
The Senjuin school is regarded as the oldest of the schools within the Yamato tradition, traditionally described as a group of priest-swordsmiths affiliated with Tōdai-ji. Its founding is attributed to two figures, Shigehiro and Yukinobu, with Shigehiro traditionally named alongside Yukinobu as a candidate founder.
Tradition and Surviving Work
No signed work by Shigehiro is known to survive. The oldest known blade signed "Senjuin" is a tachi from the early Kamakura period (held by the Tokyo National Museum); no signed work from the late Heian period, when Shigehiro and Yukinobu are traditionally said to have been active, has come down to us.
Assessment
Shigehiro is remembered in sword history as, alongside Yukinobu, a traditional co-founder of the Senjuin school, regarded as the oldest of the Yamato Five Schools. Little surviving material substantiates his individual style, but he remains an essential figure in the traditional account of the school's founding.