Newly Forged Japanese Katana by Tomioka Yoshimasa (冨岡慶正) — A Rising Smith of the Okayama Sword Country

Commission a powerful, broad-tempered blade from a prize-winning pupil of mukansa smith Matsuba Kunimasa

Tomioka Yoshimasa is one of the most closely watched smiths of the new generation. Working in Sōja, in the old province of Bitchū in Okayama Prefecture, the region whose Bizen and Aoe smiths defined Japanese swordmaking for centuries, he won both the Excellence Prize and the Newcomer Prize in his first year at the Gendai Tōshoku-ten (Contemporary Sword Craftsmen Exhibition) of the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (NBTHK), and has since taken the association's Chairman's Prize. His blades are large and forceful, tempered with a high, vigorous gunome-chōji. 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 — Tomioka Yoshimasa (冨岡慶正)

Yoshimasa was born Tomioka Keiichirō (冨岡慶一郎) in Okayama Prefecture. He had longed to make swords since childhood, but on graduating from Tokyo Zokei University in 2005, where he studied visual communication design, he followed the advice of a swordsmith to gain experience in the wider world first. He spent about nine years as a designer at an IT company before deciding, at the age of thirty, to devote himself to the sword.

He entered the forge of Matsuba Kunimasa (松葉國正) in Miyazaki Prefecture, a smith promoted to mukansa (exhibition-exempt) rank in 2014. After his apprenticeship he passed the Agency for Cultural Affairs' swordsmith training course and examination, an eight-day residential course in which each candidate must forge a shinogi-zukuri wakizashi. In autumn 2020 he returned to his home prefecture and established his own forge, the Yoshimasa Tantōjō (慶正鍛刀場), in Sōja. His blades are signed Bitchū no Kuni Yoshimasa saku (備中國慶正作).

Awards and recognition

Yoshimasa made a striking debut at the 2020 Gendai Tōshoku-ten, where his tachi of nearly three shaku (about 90 cm), made in the grand style of the Nanbokuchō period, won both the Excellence Prize and the Newcomer Prize. At the 15th Omamori-gatana (protective sword) Exhibition in 2021 he received an honorable mention in the overall division and a fourth-place prize in the blade division. He returned to the Gendai Tōshoku-ten with an Effort Prize in 2022, won the NBTHK Chairman's Prize in 2023, and took the first-place Effort Prize in 2026.

Style — Bizen roots, Sōshū strength

Yoshimasa's foundation is the Bizen-den (Bizen tradition). He is also deeply influenced by the approach of Chōgi (長義), the Nanbokuchō-period Bizen smith who brought Sōshū (Sagami tradition) vigor into Bizen work, and he draws Sōshū elements into his own blades in the same spirit. His hallmark is a koshi-biraki gunome-chōji (腰開きの互の目丁子), a hamon of clove-shaped and rounded peaks that open at the base, tempered high and with strong variation in height. He studies historical masterpieces through photographs and oshigata (rubbings) and has said that the rhythm of the mountain ridgelines around him finds its way into his hamon. He favors a generous blade size and a powerful, imposing sugata (overall shape).

A commissioned katana by Tomioka Yoshimasa is an opportunity to own the early work of a smith already recognized at the highest national exhibitions, made in the Okayama heartland of classical Japanese swordmaking. Please contact us to discuss specifications and lead time.

Smith profile

• Swordsmith name: Tomioka Yoshimasa (冨岡慶正)
• Real name: Tomioka Keiichirō (冨岡慶一郎)
• Born: Okayama Prefecture
• Teacher: Matsuba Kunimasa (松葉國正), mukansa, Miyazaki Prefecture
• Swordsmith license: Agency for Cultural Affairs
• Forge established: 2020, Yoshimasa Tantōjō (慶正鍛刀場), Sōja, Okayama Prefecture
• Major awards: Gendai Tōshoku-ten Excellence Prize and Newcomer Prize (2020); NBTHK Chairman's Prize (2023); Effort Prizes (2022, 2026)
• Specialty: Bizen-den with Sōshū elements; koshi-biraki gunome-chōji hamon; large, powerful sugata
• Price: set by the All Japan Swordsmith Association (全日本刀匠会)