Among the swordsmiths of late , the place the Wake group at Wake-shō (和気庄), a manor in Province, and the names that recur across the blades are two: Shigenori (重則) and Shigesuke (重助). Their working dates are fixed by surviving signed and dated pieces, with Shigenori represented by inscriptions of Genkō 4 (1324), Shōchū 3 (1326) and Karyaku 3 (1328), and Shigesuke by a Karyaku 1 (1326) and a Karyaku 3 (1328) . The repeatedly note that Wake is cited as one of the presumed locales of the old smiths, and that one view holds these makers drew upon the lineage, while cautioning in each case that the details are not clearly known. Throughout, the register frames the group not as a single transmitted house but as two distinct contemporary hands working the district within the broader - sphere.
The shared vocabulary the blades present is consistent. The forging is or , often mixed with and a (flowing) tendency, with a slightly standing grain (), dense , , and areas of ; across nearly every piece stands out distinctly, though a few works show only a faint . The rests on a base into which enters, joined variously by , , and pointed or angular ; enter well, the temper is -predominant with , and the tends toward a tight or (moist) character, with and appearing in places. The characteristically runs shallowly and turns back in , though and finishes are recorded on individual blades. The state plainly that this workmanship lies close to contemporary ; the points of divergence they single out are a somewhat subdued , the persistent intermixture of , and a slight rustic vigor in and , which is where the distinctive character of the Wake line is said to be revealed. One Shigesuke carries a -dominant temper with and a notably crisp , and a Shigesuke shows a -style .
For , the blades supply concrete anchors. Signed works by both smiths are described as exceedingly rare, so the dated and the truncated-but-attributed serve as reference material for the group, and several are appraised to Shigesuke on the strength of these shared traits. The draw direct comparison to the masters Kagemitsu and Sanenaga, noting that one Shigesuke blade is judged not inferior to, and possibly exceeding, Kagemitsu's customary work, and one Shigenori is likened to Sanenaga and Kagemitsu and rated a jōjō-saku. The careful discriminator they give is that a Wake piece can at first glance suggest the orthodox main line, yet close inspection of the fine, slightly standing grain and the minute along the affirms the Wake attribution. In provenance, a Shigesuke bears a former-scabbard account that in the eleventh month of Genroku 14 (1701) Tokugawa Tsunayoshi bestowed it upon Mizuno Katsunaga, after which it was transmitted in the Mizuno family, lords of Yūki Domain in Shimōsa Province. The standing the accord the group is that of a line working at the level of, and easily confused with, late , known chiefly through Shigenori and Shigesuke.