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Specifications

About the maker

Sue-Soshu Masahiro正廣

Soshu Masahiro is a lineage of smiths working in Sagami Province that continued for four or five generations, traditionally transmitted as descending from the youngest son of Masamune. The first generation, styled "Soshu Masahiro," produced works bearing era names such as Joji and Meitoku, with the earliest known dated example inscribed Sadaharu 2 (1363). However, from the standpoint of chronology, it is not feasible to connect Masahiro and Masamune directly; rather, it is necessary to posit the existence of one additional intermediary figure between them. The line extended to the end of the Muromachi period, and it is also said that the fourth generation changed his name to Tsunahiro; however, the distinctions among the second and third generations are not clearly established. The Masahiro line works in a Soshu-den idiom characterized by *itame-hada* forging, sometimes mixed with *mokume*, with abundant *ji-nie* and *chikei*. The *hamon* favors a *notare*-based composition mixing *gunome* and *choji*, enriched with well-entering *ashi* and *yo*, and accompanied throughout by *sunagashi* and *kinsuji*. In more vigorous examples, *tobiyaki* develops into an overall *hitatsura*-like manner, and the *nioiguchi* is bright and clear with *ko-nie* adhering well. The *boshi* typically enters in *midare-komi*, and the manner of cutting the inscription "Soshu-ju Masahiro" closely resembles the practice seen in Akihiro, indicating the shared technical milieu of late Soshu tradition. Early-generation works frequently display *hira-zukuri* construction with *mitsu-mune*, broad *mihaba*, thin *kasane*, and *sun-nobi* proportions with *sakizori* — the characteristic Nanbokucho-period form — and many bear accomplished *horimono* including *bonji*, *kurikara*, *dokko-sho*, and *rendai*. The NBTHK consistently praises the Masahiro line as displaying the excellence of the Soshu tradition, with workmanship of both *ji* and *ha* rated as excellent and of upper-level quality. Well-preserved examples are noted as *kenzen* — sound in condition — and the carvings executed on the blades are repeatedly described as splendid. Works such as the tachi recorded in *Nihonto Taikan* show connections with Hiromitsu and Akihiro through their *minayaki*-like tempering, further attesting to the line's place within the broader circle of later Soshu-den masters who carried forward and sustained the legacy of the Masamune tradition through the Muromachi period.

Samurai Museum

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