Chogi (長義) was a swordsmith of the school in Province, active during the period, with dated works spanning from the Jowa era (1345-1350) through Koryaku (1379-1381). According to one tradition he was a descendant of Sanenaga, and together with Kanemitsu he ranks as one of the foremost practitioners of what is collectively termed Soden -- the group of -era smiths whose work absorbed the technical influence of the tradition. His long signatures occasionally bear the clan name Hata (秦), as seen on a celebrated dated Bunna 5 (1356). A related smith signing "Hata Chogi, resident of Echigo Province" appears in historical references, though the precise nature of the connection remains a matter of scholarly debate. Blades by or attributed to Chogi have been transmitted through distinguished collections including the Mito Tokugawa and Tosa Yamauchi families, attesting to his longstanding reputation among the warrior elite.
Chogi's body of work divides into two principal modes. The first is -dominant, producing a tempered edge of relatively quiet luminosity. The second, and more distinctive, emphasizes powerful in both the (blade surface) and (hardened edge), yielding an intensely active surface. In this latter mode Chogi pushed the idiom further than any contemporary, prompting the well-known aphorism that "among blades, the smith who departs furthest from is Chogi." His characteristic form is broad and imposing: construction with a wide , little taper between base and tip, thick , and a pronounced . The is typically a standing thickly covered with and laced with , over which a faint rises. His is among the most flamboyant in the repertoire -- a large-scale weaving together , , angular forms, pointed , and koshi-hiraki shapes. and scatter freely in the border zone, while and streak through the hardened edge. The is characteristically with vigorous , often approaching .
Chogi occupies a singular position within the tradition because his finest work transcends its provincial identity. Where Kanemitsu synthesized influence into a refined framework, Chogi carried that synthesis to its expressive limit, producing swords whose dense activity, dramatic tempering effects, and imposing scale rival the output of the great smiths themselves. The variety of morphology across his surviving works -- from broad, mountainous to tightly composed with boxy tendencies and distinctive (ear-shaped) elements -- reveals a smith of extraordinary technical range. That so many of his blades survive only as or with attributions is itself a testament to the esteem in which later generations held them. Among the Soden masters, Chogi remains the boldest interpreter of influence, and his work constitutes an essential chapter in the history of Japanese sword forging.