Norinari is a smith of the Fukuoka school, placed by tradition around the Kenchō era of the early-to-mid period. He is one of the rarest names the school records: of his signed work the published sources observe that extant examples are extremely few, and that the number of securely authenticated signed examined to date amounts to scarcely four. The signature reading 則成 is itself a problem of the books. The enter the name across three -related lines, the Fukuoka , the Yoshioka and ; the examined blades, however, are appraised as the work of the Fukuoka man active around Kenchō, and the later designations increasingly read him as Ko-, the early- wing of the school whose work, in the words of the published commentary, keeps the old colour of . He stands at the threshold between and the great flowering of Fukuoka under Norimune, Sukezane and Yoshifusa.
His characteristic hand is a -based irregular temper that has not yet opened into the school's full clove-flower. Over the the published sources describe a mixture of , , and that nonetheless holds to a foundation, with and entering densely, well adhered, the tight or soft, and and running through the lower half. The tell is where the cloves gather. The judges note that around the the are conspicuous, and that just here the edge takes on a fresher note than the old province allows, so that in this point the distinctive character of the Ko- wing is clearly displayed. It is the smallest of advances on , but the published commentary reads it as the nascent emergence of the full to come.
The is the steadier half of the picture and the more obviously . His are forged in , generally well-packed and at times mixed with , the grain standing a little and entering where the forging opens; over it lies a fine , on the slender pieces a dust-fine ( ), and a that stands out clearly on the signed work. On a of around the Kenchō era the reflection can fall faint and the construction turn wholly to , the gentle, demonstrating the virtues of steel without the of the later school. The follows the quiet manner: a shallow turning in a , or running straight to a .
His few blades divide into two grades of the one manner. The slender signed , several of them yet keeping a high and and ending in a , carry the -based, archaic register at its most refined; the published sources call these of an older than the mid- type, and value them for the way the about the waist lift them past . A second, showier grade widens the : on a standard-width , or only slightly shortened and keeping its , the temper runs as mixed with , in places becoming -like, with round-topped and set in here and there. Of one such the published commentary judges the workmanship excellent and the blade a valuable example for understanding the smith's high level of ability and the scope of his work.
What sets Norinari apart his neighbours name precisely. From the brilliant of the mid- to late- he is held apart, his manner read as one that differs from the splendid mid- style and in which the character of is strongly preserved in both shape and the workmanship of and . From the plainer smiths he is held apart by the gathering of on his edge and the brightness of his . On one shortened the older commentary granted only that there was no doubt it was the work of a superior smith while adding that its precise lineage warranted further examination, a caution that the later attribution to Fukuoka around Kenchō has since refined rather than overturned. He is, in the end, a documentary figure: the quiet root from which the most brilliant of the traditions grew.
For the collector he is a scarce early name rather than a market presence. He has no National Treasures and no Important Cultural Properties; his designated record runs instead through the and ranks, with a handful of pieces, and through the prewar Jūyō Bijutsuhin, one of which descended in the Maeda family of . The published sources value each signed blade for exactly what it documents, calling it one of Norinari's few extant signed works, of high value as reference material. With securely signed numbering only about four, a privately held example is among the rarer encounters in the field, coming to light from a long-held collection only seldom and with patience, and prized when it does as a witness to how the began.