Kaneyasu (兼安), known as Bingo Hokke Ichijō Kaneyasu, belongs to the Hokke group of swordsmiths from Ashida District in Bingo Province. According to the Kokon Meizukushi Taizen, this lineage is distinct from the Mihara tradition and regards Sukekuni as its founding progenitor. The group was active from the Nanbokuchō period into the Muromachi period, and extant works survive by smiths such as Ichijō, Kaneyasu, Yukiyoshi, Shigeyasu, Shigeie, and Nobukane. Kaneyasu's period is established by dated examples from the Ōan era (1368-1375), with sword-signature compendia assigning his activity variously to Enbun, Shitoku, and Ōei. A special feature noted by the NBTHK is that Bingo Province swordsmiths from the late Kamakura into the Nanbokuchō period characteristically sign not "Bingo no Kuni" but rather "Bishū-jū."

In terms of style, the Hokke group's forging characteristically shows itame-hada mixed with nagare-hada and mokume, tending toward a whitish cast with prominent standing grain and, in some works, a somewhat dark, iron-like tone. The steel presents what the examiners describe as a somewhat adhesive, nettori texture, with thick chikei entering and shirake-utsuri or faint utsuri appearing. Their temperlines are generally low and gentle -- either calm suguha or suguha-chō accompanied by strings of linked ko-gunome; the nioiguchi is characteristically tight with ko-nie and tends toward a shizumi (subdued) quality. Two modes of bōshi are recognized: one tending toward yakizume, the other in which the tip becomes pointed and turns back with a long return. In these traits, the NBTHK identifies an observable "Yamato temperament" (Yamato kishitsu). Fine activities along the habuchi, particularly hotsure, are a pleasing hallmark. Kaneyasu's signed works span hira-zukuri small wakizashi and tantō as well as rare signed tachi, with his workmanship encompassing both pure suguha and somewhat more irregular temper patterns.

Extant signed works by Kaneyasu are described as "exceedingly few" and "no more than counting on one hand," making each surviving example of considerable documentary value. The NBTHK consistently characterizes his works as possessing force and presence despite their sober and unpretentious nature. His katana, though typically greatly shortened, convey the large-scale period character of the Nanbokuchō era, with the examiners noting their kenzen (sound and well-preserved) condition and the manner in which the "distinctive characteristics of the Hokke group are well displayed" in both jigane and hamon. Kaneyasu's place within the Hokke Ichijō lineage -- a school standing apart from the better-known Mihara tradition yet sharing its Yamato-inflected temperament -- marks him as a distinctive voice within the swordsmithing traditions of Bingo Province.