Okuzuka Hisanori (Kyōhō 10 to Kansei 7; 1725-1795) was a samurai retainer of the Moriyama domain, a collateral branch of the Mito Tokugawa house. At twenty-eight he entered the studio of Ōmori Teruhide and studied metal carving; after a hiatus beginning at thirty-five, he resumed his training at forty and devoted himself to mastering his craft until retiring at fifty-two. The Moriyama Hanshi Ryakuden records that "his disposition was gentle and mild, yet earnest and strict in conduct," and that he served as page to two successive lords, receiving a stipend of thirty koku. The Sōken Kishō further notes that "his workmanship is extremely exacting; in the division and handling of iroe across the pictorial surface, he stands in a class of his own."

Possessing a warrior's pride, Hisanori pursued carving technique with an intensity that transcended the conventions of samurai "pastime carving." His dense, richly wrought inlay reached what the NBTHK consistently describes as "a realm uniquely his own." He particularly excelled in designs of birds -- peacocks, phoenixes, hawks, and chickens -- as well as figural subjects. His menuki modeling is distinctly individual: the base metal is made thick, with abundant sculptural volume; the interplay of "raising from the reverse" and "pressing in from the face" is strongly emphasized. The waist portions are drawn in as if cinched, giving the overall form a rounded fullness, while features such as birds' faces are carved in a manner approaching full sculpture, heightening three-dimensionality. His iroe employs gold, silver, shakudō, shibuichi, and suaka with minute, penetrating attention to detail. As Natsuo Chōkin-dan observes: "His iroe is careful, and his manner is in the richly colored style."

The NBTHK repeatedly praises Hisanori's works as "brimming with a sense of animation, as though they might begin moving at any moment," a testament to his extraordinary command of three-dimensional form within the conventions of sword-fitting metalwork. Whether rendering the comical figure of a monkey-handler at New Year's, the heroic Guan Yu, or the quiet dignity of mandarin ducks, his pieces display an assured technique that was, "in truth, a master craftsman's orthodox takabori and iroe." Hisanori stands as a singular figure within the Ōmori lineage, having transformed the restrained aesthetics of domain-retainer carving into a medium of vivid sculptural expression.