A inscribed Nōshū Seki-jū Teruhiro and dated the ninth month of Tenshō 17 is the document around which the history of this smith has been rewritten. no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro is the founder of the Aki Teruhiro line of Hiroshima. The published sources record the transmitted account: a native of said to descend from Seki Kanetsune, he first signed Kanetomo, studied under Myōju, entered the service of Fukushima Masanori, changed his name to Teruhiro and received the title no Kami, and followed his lord to Kiyosu in Owari and then, in Keichō 5, to Hiroshima in Geishū. The Tenshō shows that he already signed Teruhiro while still in , and the published sources conclude that he had "already reached maturity before entering Myōju's school". The teaching relationship with Myōju, they write, now needs fresh examination and is "left to future research".
His surviving work is exceedingly scarce. The earliest papers judge that it does "not exceed ten fingers even counting , and together", and later papers repeatedly give "fewer than twenty pieces", counting , , and . Within that small record the long weapons predominate. The published sources note that "among them, survive from time to time", and the include a great ōmi- of a and a half, of which they write that "a large spear reaching a and five is rare, and the workmanship is also excellent".
The Tenshō sets the measure of his hand. It is somewhat wide, with little taper, a strong and an . The is an mixed with , taking toward the edge and standing somewhat in , with . The is -based and boxes up in places into large patterns, with -like elements, and , and , deep , and . The published sources call it "an outstanding blade of the first-generation Teruhiro showing a bold style", "overflowing with presence together with its wide body and ". The no Kami designated at the very first session is read in another key, as a work "that admired the style, one of the fine pieces among his works". Its flowing runs toward and is , and its with is crossed with .
On the the flows, often toward , and stands in places, with . The is a or mixed with , small and pointed elements, with , and , the sometimes tight and sometimes settling into . One is singled out as the work "showing the most spirited style among his works", another as "a work that does not shame the name of a master smith". The are forged in or a flowing grain and tempered in a -toned shallow with small , the bright. A few wide, elongated and stand apart. Of one the published sources write that it "shows no trace at all of having studied under Myōju", showing instead the Owari Seki manner of its day while being well made, and of a - that it "shows the Seki manner and is well made".
Two features run through the whole record. His enters and finishes pointed, often turning back long, far more often than on the blades of his son-in-law, whose runs mostly straight to a . And the published sources name a deep only once for him, where it is the constant of the second generation's . That son-in-law, an Owari man of the Kanie family, became Harima no Kami Teruhiro, and the published sources set the two titles side by side: "the first generation received no Kami, and the second received Harima no Kami". After the Fukushima house was dispossessed the line served the Asano , and "the descendants served the Asano family and have prospered in this place for generations".
Fujishiro grades him Jō-jō . Seventeen designated works are on record: the Tenshō , first designated and later raised to , a prewar , and , , , and . For a collector the long weapons are the realistic encounter: a or by his hand comes to light from time to time, while a signed , of which so few survive, is a rare event. The Tenshō itself is a landmark of early scholarship, a single blade that changed how the founder of a Hiroshima house is understood.