Tamekiyo is an early- swordsmith of the Fukuoka school, working in and known today chiefly by two-character signed ; a signed Tamekiyo is also held at Atsuta Jingu as an Important Cultural Property. The sword-name registers enter his name in several places, under , Fukuoka , Karakawa and . The published sources observe, however, that no surviving signed piece reads as other than , 「現存する有銘作は一文字派と目されるもの以外は未見」, so most authenticated Tamekiyo are judged to that school. His dating is unsettled. It is given as the Kenpo era of about 1213 to 1219 or the Tenpuku era of about 1233 to 1234, and because the signatures are all two-character with no dated example among them, the published sources leave a firm placement to later study.
In most respects his work does not separate from that of his contemporaries. The published sources locate his personal tell in one feature of the temper: from time to time he shows a , a temper flaring low at the base, and it is there that 「時折腰刃を見せるところに同工の特徴が見いだせる」, his distinguishing feature is found. The same feature carries weight in the prewar record. Of three signed certified as , the commentary there says that the three differ somewhat in make but agree in signature, that it is hard to decide at once whether they are or , and that the one whose stands out is the of the three.
His finest blade, designated and later , shows the type. It is a strong, rather wide with a clear taper, at the base, a high with added toward the point, and a compact , on an tang signed in small, fine characters. The is a well-packed with and fine . A high, vivid stands in the dark band, toning here and there to a . The temper is built in two parts. The lower half is a small-patterned mixed with and pointed or slightly angular , and the upper half a tone with mixed in. and enter well throughout, the work almost wholly in with a little , and and run in places. The is nearly straight on the front and turns back from a small on the reverse, and a is carved through.
The same blade is read differently at its two designations, and both readings stand. At the stage the published sources set its lower half of with against a quieter upper half, and called it 「比較的に華やかな出来である」 among the several works of this name. At the stage they stress the small-patterned below and the straight tone above, the two-part construction they take, with the , as a feature of his temper. The three prewar show the range. One, nearly , has an with some standing grain, , and a in with and . Another, also nearly , wide with and , carries a with and a with deep and the . The third is , yet keeps a high and a good shape, with over a slightly standing and a mixed with .
The published sources tie his best work to that prewar group. They write that the blade is very close in style to one of the three, and that together with the this points to a characteristic construction of his temper. Among the work of the period and the signed Tamekiyo, they rank it outstanding, 「同工の技量の高さを顕現する一口」, a piece that shows the high level of his skill. His early-period , set in two parts and marked by the low flare at the base, is the standard against which the other blades bearing his name are read.
The Fujishiro appraisal rates him at Jo-jo , and the record of his survival is slight. Two works are Important Cultural Properties, one is , and three signed were certified before the war. Of recorded whereabouts, one of the prewar passed from Kurokawa Fukusaburo to the Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Cultures, and the signed is held at Atsuta Jingu, recorded by its plate as an with , its blade carrying a later inscription naming the Atsuta Daijingu and one Munehisa. The other Important Cultural Property, a signed in private hands, is recorded as a with . Another prewar is recorded as one that 「山形藩主水野家が将軍家より拝領したものである」, received by the Mizuno lords of from the shogunal house. These are designated cultural property and long-held heritage rather than blades that come to market. A signed Tamekiyo in private hands is among the rarer things a collector of early could hope to encounter, and one appears, when it does, only with patience.