Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀), born in 'en 3 (1750) at Akayu in Dewa Province, studied under Shimohara Yoshihide before entering the service of the Akimoto family in An'ei 3 (1774), at which time he adopted the name Kawabe Gihachiro Masahide and the art-name Suishinshi. His swordmaking career extended for some fifty years, from the An'ei era through the middle of Bunsei. In his earliest period he styled himself Goro Masahide -- admiring Goro Masamune -- and by An'ei 6 (1777) was already working in . He trained many disciples, produced collaborative works with students such as the tenth-generation Kunikane of Sendai and Hosokawa Morihide, and left numerous writings articulating his influential theory of -- the restoration of classical swordmaking models.
Masahide's career divides into two clearly defined phases. In his early and middle period -- around the Tenmei, Kansei, and Kyowa eras -- he took the Osaka masters as his ideal, producing toran- in the manner of Tsuda Sukehiro, -based tempering reminiscent of Inoue Shinkai, and on rare occasions works in the style of Ikkanshi Tadatsuna. His forging in this mode shows tightly packed tending toward a -like surface with thickly adhering . The features deep , well-adhering , and a bright , but is characteristically marked by somewhat coarse, blackish that spills from within the temper into the -- a habit the identifies across numerous works as "a habitual trait of his workmanship." In his later years, he advocated and practiced his revivalist doctrine, consistently pursuing - work with comparatively shallow , including in with tight and his signature at the .
The positions Masahide as the central figure of the movement, whose early Osaka emulations are judged "particularly fine" -- works "of such a character that it could be mistaken for the work of the Tsuda group." His revivalist late-period pieces reproduce idealized "without breaking down" while retaining his individual hand. Matched by Masahide are noted as "rare and therefore valuable," and his collaborative works with disciples constitute "valuable material for study." Across both phases, the consistently praises a that is bright and , a forging that approaches or achieves a -like clarity, and a distinctive coarse that remains his most recognizable signature.