-no-kami Fujiwara Takahira is the later name of Kashu Kanewaka, the head of the Tsujimura line of smiths. A of his dated the twelfth month of Genna 7 (1621) is treated by the published sources not only as a fine blade but as evidence, 'valuable material' for clarifying the long-standing questions over his change of name and his court title. The line was in origin. Its forebears were smiths of Seki who moved north to and worked there as Kanewaka, the first generation styling himself Tsujimura Shiroemon-no-jo. The commonly accepted view is that Kanewaka received the title -no-kami around Genna 5 (1619) and signed Takahira thereafter, working under that name to about Kanei 4. The published commentary notes dissenting opinions, including one paper that calls him the second-generation Kanewaka, and leaves the matter to further research.
His temper is what the published sources single out. It is a base into which and pointed enter, and where the undulations broaden their heads flatten into box-shaped forms. The calls this 'box-shaped temper' the very essence of the smith. The is deep, with and in places coarser , and runs through the . Two papers of 1977 and 1980 put the whole manner in one sentence: a temper based on with , and box-shaped elements, well covered in and full of vigour.
The is that runs into a flowing , with attaching and entering, and on one the is . The published sources trace this to his origins, writing that 'his workmanship mostly carries the strong colour of his birthplace'. An early stands open in the grain with rough , while the latest pieces and the two Genna tighten to a well forged with fine . The follows the line's habit rather than one rule. It may return in on one face and run to and a pointed tip on the other.
The published record divides his working life into two manners. The dated work of Kanewaka runs from the middle of Keicho to the first years of Kanei. In the Keicho years the is broad with an extended point, the Keicho- stance, and the temper a shallow laced with and , so that the work 'calls to mind old '. As the years pass from Genna into Kanei and the Takahira signature takes over, the width approaches normal with a , the grows finer and denser, the deepens, and the box- becomes prominent. A dated the first month of Kanei 3 is praised for exactly this, a refined forging on with an unhurried that shows a mature hand. He 'particularly excelled at works with broad and extended length'. Beside and he made many , and one paper states plainly that 'Takahira has many and few '.
His signatures and carving are habits the published sources record closely. He cuts Tsujimura -no-kami and Fujiwara in two lines with Takahira and a below, and several blades, for reasons no one has explained, carry the date the third day of the third month. Two dated Genna 7 and Genna 9 both bear that date. The Genna 9 carries dense relief carving of three Buddhist deities on the and pine, bamboo and plum above a on the . The commentary finds it unlike work and probably 'by a carver of the same province' rather than the smith himself. It adds that carving is almost never seen on other blades. A of Genna 9 has an openwork in its groove, which the published sources liken closely to the Kinai carving of .
Seven of his blades are designated , all signed, and spanning and the in which he is most often met. Two further , signed in full and dated Genna 7 and Genna 9, are recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection. He has no National Treasure or Important Cultural Property on this record, and his Toko Taikan rating places him in the middle of the field rather than at its summit. That is an honest measure of a fine, characterful provincial master. His blades are held, as designated swords generally are, and one comes to market only from time to time and with patience. A signed and dated example of recorded whereabouts is a satisfying thing to encounter, a documented work by the smith whose blades the published sources read as a key to the Kanewaka succession.