Kanetsugu is a smith of the tradition active in Province from the late through the period. He is traditionally said to have been a son of either Moritsugu or Sadatsugu, and signature compendia record him as a member of Sadatsugu's line. The school is said to have begun with Yasutsugu in about the Jodan era (1171-1175), and works produced before roughly the mid- period are especially termed "." Representative smiths include Moritsugu, Tametsugu, Tsugie, Tsugatada, Sadatsugu, Yasutsugu, Tsunetsugu, Toshitsugu, Suketsugu, and Shigetsugu alongside Kanetsugu, many of whom share the character "tsugu" as a common element in their names. Among these craftsmen, a comparatively large number of Kanetsugu's works have been handed down to the present, and signed by him are encountered from time to time.
Kanetsugu's forging displays the hallmark (crepe-like) texture of the school, an mixed with in which the grain stands in a fine, granular manner, with patches of intermixed and areas of appearing. Fine is thickly applied, and is interwoven. The temper is characteristically a -based with small undulations and mixed in; adheres well, with and -karami within the . The is straight, turning back in . Small forms seen within the hardened edge are identified as a trait particular to signed works by Kanetsugu. The tends toward tightness, appearing bright and clear. On the tang, file marks are bold , and the two-character is struck in large characters with conspicuously thick, forceful chisel work. Signatures are most often placed on the in the manner common to , though rare surviving examples bear the inscription on the , as with the Important Cultural Property preserved at Itsukushima Shrine.
The observes that in Kanetsugu's swordmaking "there is almost no unevenness of workmanship, and many examples are of fine quality." Compared with contemporary works, the overall impression is "somewhat more subdued and has an astringent, restrained savor" -- quieter and more austere, well expressing the character typical of workmanship. Blades by Kanetsugu praised as being in (sound and well-preserved) condition are noted for forging "more thoroughly refined than is usual even within this school," with thickly applied, extremely fine and finely interwoven singled out as distinguishing qualities. Works bearing his signature on the are recognized as possessing "high documentary value as material for the study of this smith." Province was from early times a flourishing center of iron production, and within the long continuity of the tradition, Kanetsugu stands as one of its most representative figures, his surviving body of work offering consistent testimony to the restrained elegance of the manner.