Nobuyasu So forges his blades in Sannō, Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City — a city with deep roots in the history of the Japanese sword. A member of the Kyushu Regional Branch of the All Japan Swordsmiths Association, he carries forward the proud legacy of the So school, one of Fukuoka's most distinguished swordsmithing lineages.

The So family represents three generations of unbroken mastery. Nobuyasu's grandfather, Tsutomu So, and his father, Masachika So, have both attained mukansa — the highest honor in the Japanese swordsmithing world, awarded to those whose skill is deemed beyond the need of judgment. To be born into such a lineage is to inherit both an extraordinary privilege and a profound responsibility, and Nobuyasu has embraced that legacy with evident dedication.

The hallmark of the So school is its pursuit of Soshu-den — the bold, dramatically expressive tradition of swordmaking associated with the great medieval smiths of Sagami Province, characterized by a steel surface alive with nie activity and an almost fierce vitality. Equally central to the school's identity is its deep study of Minamoto no Kiyomaro, the visionary Edo-period master celebrated as "the Unkei of the late Tokugawa era" — a swordsmith whose blades combined devastating cutting performance with breathtaking beauty. The So school's faithful recreations — utsushi — of Kiyomaro's work are regarded as among the finest produced by any living swordsmiths. Nobuyasu has inherited this tradition fully, bringing to his own blades the same fierce elegance and technical precision that have defined his family's name for three generations.

The school also traces a spiritual connection to the legacy of Samonji — the legendary 14th-century Fukuoka swordsmith whose blades remain national treasures — grounding the So lineage in the very soil from which Fukuoka's sword culture first arose.

Nobuyasu's talent has already earned recognition on the national stage. At the prestigious Omamori-gatana Exhibition, he claimed the Sanyo Shimbun Award (6th Place) at the 13th edition, followed by a further prize at the 14th edition (11th Place) — a consistency of achievement that marks him as one of the most promising swordsmiths of his generation.

With two mukansa masters behind him and the spirit of Kiyomaro and Samonji coursing through every blade he forges, Nobuyasu Sō stands at the threshold of a remarkable career — and the swordsmithing world watches with great anticipation.