Kanetsugu's earliest dated work is a slender of Bunpo 1 (1317), and the published sources write that 「文保元年紀は同作中最も遡る制作であり資料的にも極めて貴重なもの」, the Bunpo date the earliest among his works and the piece exceptionally precious as documentary material. He belongs to the school of Yamato, which the published sources regard as a body of smiths attached to ; the name is also written Tenga, and is said to come from the group's residence outside the Gate, which faces the western front of the temple. The school took as its founder Kanenaga, placed around the Shoo era of the late period, flourished through the period and on into , and was the largest in scale of the five Yamato schools. The reference works on signatures record Kanetsugu as a son of the first-generation Kanenaga, with dated works of the Gentoku, Genko and Kenmu eras, and three of his designated carry dates, from Bunpo 1 through Genko 3 (1333) to Ryakuo 3 (1340).
The form the body of his record. They are with a high and inward , narrow or of standard width and somewhat extended for their width. The forging is , mixed with or , in places flowing and slightly standing, with adhering well and fine entering. On the Bunpo 1 blade a rises from the and connects into , and the Ryakuo 3 blade shows a faint over thickly applied and extremely fine. The temper is a or , on the Bunpo 1 piece in an extremely shallow , elsewhere taking in small , with , the bright and tending to tighten. The frays finely into -, and delicate and run along it. The runs straight, tempered through as on the Ryakuo 3 blade, or turns in a small round with only a short return.
The three dated differ in detail. The Bunpo 1 piece has and a carved in relief within the grooves on both faces. The Genko 3 sets a with a slight admixture of , entering, lightly frayed in places, with a rather deep , over an mixed with , and the published sources call it 「全てに大和手掻派の特色が看取される優品である」. The Ryakuo 3 is signed Yamato no ju Kanetsugu and carries carved on both faces; for it too the published sources judge every feature characteristic of the Yamato school, the work a superior one.
The single stands apart in manner. It is with , shortened to a rather shallow with a , carried through on both faces, and a boldly cut two-character signature in a fine chisel at the tip of the tang. Its flows toward and stands slightly overall, with and a standing ; the temper is a mixed with , and entering frequently, with , here and there and adhering well. The enters in a slight on the and on the runs straight with to a pointed return. The published sources note that 「現存するものに大和包次有銘の太刀は極めて少く」 and that no dated is encountered, yet they find that this broadly bears out the transmitted account, and they judge it 「出来もよく、頗る珍品であり、好資料でもある」.
Kanetsugu has four designated works on record, all and all signed. He is rated 750 in the Toko Taikan and carries no Fujishiro grade. No and no institutional holder are recorded for any of the four, and the record gives no owner beyond the private names listed at designation.