Newly Forged Japanese Katana by Matsuba Kagemasa (松葉景正) — Mukansa Swordsmith and Martial Artist of Hyūga

Commission a blade from the mukansa smith whose Bizen-den katana are made with a swordsman's understanding.

Matsuba Kagemasa is a rare figure among living swordsmiths: a mukansa (exhibition-exempt) master who is also a lifelong martial artist. A practitioner of kendō from childhood and later of iaidō, karate and aikidō, he came to swordmaking through the sword itself, and he still tests his blades in the bamboo groves around his forge in Hyūga, Miyazaki Prefecture. Formerly active and widely renowned under the swordsmith name Kunimasa (國正), he changed his name to Kagemasa (景正) in 2022. Known above all for Bizen-den work in the manner of the Osafune master Chōgi, he was promoted to mukansa in 2014 and designated an Intangible Cultural Property holder of Miyazaki Prefecture in 2022. A katana commissioned through Tozando is forged to order by the smith himself and priced as set by the All Japan Swordsmith Association (全日本刀匠会).

On the smith — Matsuba Kagemasa (松葉景正)

Kagemasa was born in 1959 in Miyazaki Prefecture; his real name is written 松葉一路. He began kendō at the age of eleven in 1970 and went on to study iaidō, karate and other martial arts. In 1983 he ordered a sword for his iaidō practice from the swordsmith Kobayashi Yasuhiro (小林康宏), famous for his exceptionally sharp blades, and the encounter decided his future: that same year he became Kobayashi's apprentice. He continued his training under Kobayashi's senior pupil Andō Hirokiyo (安藤広清) in Okayama.

He received his swordsmith's license from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1989 and returned to his hometown of Hyūga City, where he built a forge at his home. For over two decades, including the year he achieved mukansa status in 2014, he forged under the name Kunimasa, signing his works Nisshū Kunimasa saku (日州國正作). Upon changing his name to Kagemasa in 2022, his blades are now signed Nisshū Kagemasa saku (日州景正作, "made by Kagemasa of Hyūga Province") and similar inscriptions.

Awards and recognition

Under the name Kunimasa, his work was first accepted at the Shinsaku Meitō-ten (New Sword Exhibition) of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords (NBTHK) in 1990, and he has exhibited there every year since. Throughout his career, including his formative decades as Kunimasa, he has won many of the exhibition's highest honors, including the NBTHK Chairman's Prize (among them in 2013), the Kunzan Prize (薫山賞) and the Kanzan Prize (寒山賞), and took the Special Prize, first place, in consecutive years. In 2014 he was promoted to mukansa, the rank at which a smith's work is exhibited without judging.

He served as a director of the All Japan Swordsmith Association from 2005 to 2010, and in 2022 he was designated an Intangible Cultural Property holder by Miyazaki Prefecture.

Swordsmith and teacher abroad

A commission from a European client opened Kagemasa's work to collectors overseas, and today many of his orders come from Germany and elsewhere in Europe. International collectors and practitioners often recognize his earlier works forged under the name Kunimasa. He has given seminars and lectures on the Japanese sword and its use in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and the United States, combining forging knowledge with practical swordsmanship in a way few smiths can.

Style — Bizen-den after Osafune Chōgi

Kagemasa excels in Bizen-den and has made many utsushi (faithful re-creations) of the work of Osafune Chōgi (長船長義), one of the leading Bizen smiths of the Nanbokuchō period (1336–1392), the era whose style he most admires. His katana are typically broad and imposing, with a generous kissaki. The jigane is a ko-itame (small wood-grain) mixed with itame, with dense ji-nie and chikei (dark, shining lines in the steel). The hamon is a high, varied chōji-midare (clove-pattern) mixed with ko-gunome, square gunome and pointed elements, a vigorous and well-balanced style for which the NBTHK has praised his work as "powerful."

A commissioned katana by Matsuba Kagemasa is the work of a mukansa master who understands the sword both at the anvil and in the hand. It is a blade made for one owner, to be handed down as a family treasure. Please contact us to discuss specifications and lead time.

Smith profile

• Swordsmith name: Kagemasa (景正) [formerly Kunimasa (國正), renamed in 2022]
• Real name: Matsuba Ichirō (松葉一路)
• Born: 1959, Miyazaki Prefecture
• Teachers: Kobayashi Yasuhiro (小林康宏), from 1983; further training under Andō Hirokiyo (安藤広清)
• Swordsmith license: 1989 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
• Forge: Hyūga City, Miyazaki Prefecture
• Rank: Mukansa (exhibition-exempt master), 2014
• Major awards: NBTHK Chairman's Prize; Kunzan Prize; Kanzan Prize; Special Prize, first place (consecutive years)
• Other honors: Miyazaki Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property (2022)
• Specialty: Bizen-den; utsushi of Osafune Chōgi
• Inscriptions (mei): Nisshū Kagemasa saku (日州景正作) / Formerly Nisshū Kunimasa saku (日州國正作, 1995–2022)
• Price: set by the All Japan Swordsmith Association (全日本刀匠会)