Tsugenao (次直) was a leading swordsmith of the school in Province, active during the mid- period with his principal years of production centered around the Bunwa and Enbun eras. Together with Tsuguyoshi and Moritsugu, he is consistently identified by the as one of the "representative swordsmiths of the school in the period," belonging to the group sometimes termed or Mi-. Extant dated works are known from the eras of Jowa, Kanno, Shohei, Bunwa, and Enbun, spanning roughly 1345 to 1361. While the broader tradition underwent a stylistic transformation — with works generally -based and featuring subdued with comparatively prominent , the school by the period had shifted to -dominant work with a bright, clear and tightly forged — Tsugenao stands as a consummate practitioner of this mature idiom.
Tsugenao's workmanship is universally described as operating in two principal modes: one in which he tempers a "splendid, flamboyant" -, and another in which he produces with a tightly controlled that is notably "bright and clear" (saeta). He enjoys an established reputation as "a master of -," and in contrast to Tsuguyoshi, who more frequently produced , Tsugenao is "more frequently encountered in examples of -." Yet the repeatedly observes that "even when forging he demonstrates a high level of technique." His characteristically displays mixed with , with thickly adhering fine and ; the distinctive mottled ground texture known as or appears with regularity. manifests in several forms — , (tiered combining toward the with linear near the edge), and — all hallmarks of the school. The characteristically shows a tendency, often becoming pointed. In his - works, the variation and internal activity of the are praised as "truly florid and brilliant," at times recalling the manner of Fukuoka , while and appear throughout.
The - manner with its "bright, clear, and tight " is characterized by the as having been, within the period, "very much the exclusive forte of this group" and "its emblematic and highly individual domain." Tsugenao's works are valued not only for their high technical quality but for their exceptional documentary importance: many -period blades were greatly shortened and rendered unsigned in subsequent generations, making his surviving signed and dated examples "especially precious" as "reference material for the study of this smith." Several distinguished provenances further attest to his historical standing, including blades transmitted in the Choshu Mori family and a regarded as a of the Maeda family of , known as "O-." In both the boldly imposing characteristic of the era and in the refinement of and , Tsugenao's oeuvre represents the school at its most accomplished.