Kanenobu ��信, 兼延, 兼言is the name of both a Japanese swordsmith and his clan, a group that is famous for producing

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

swords,

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

, wakizashi and, occasionally, spears in the style of the Mino School - Tōkaidō. The history of the family covers a period of more than 600 years. SHIZU KANEUJI was the founder in Mino and was a student of Masamune. According to Victor Harris, Keeper at the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the first-generation Kanenobu worked around the year 1345 in Mino province, an area that was famous for its swords. All generations are recognized as leading swordsmiths in the koto and

shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

eras, and some of his relatives are still active today. In 2004, one of Kanenobu's relatives participated in the NBTHK sword forging competition. Little is known about the 1st and 2nd generation Kanenobu smiths. The 3rd generation of the smith signed Mutsu (no) Kami Fujiwara Kanenobu and Kambe Ju. One smith in the family was a direct pupil of Kaneuji, who founded the Shizu school. At one of the most spectacular Japanese sword exhibitions recently held, the one held at the British Museum in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, one of the masterpieces displayed was a third-generation Kanenobu sword that was made sometime between 1688 and 1704. Kanenobu specialized in the sambon sugi style of hamon and, most frequently, used the togari gunome-midare style. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Wakizashi from Mutsu no Kami Fujiwara Kanenobu, a Mino smith in the 17th century.

External links

Cutting Edge - Japanese Swords at the British Museum

Kanenobu oshigata

Japanese swordsmiths

See also

External links