Tochika is a smith of the Masatsune line, working in around the middle of the period. The old sword books transmit him as the son of Tsuneto of the Masatsune house and give his active period as around Bun'ei, and one tradition makes him the forebear of Moriie. The instead enters the name as of the Jokyu era, adding that one later smith shared it. The published sources judge that neither reading settles the matter: none of the extant signed dates as early as Jokyu, and all of them show mid- workmanship. His record is a small body of signed , each with a two-character , and the published sources note that several survive bearing the same type of signature.
His hand is read in two manners, and the published record is careful to say that among his signed works none is seen in a distinctly manner. The showy face is a brilliant . On the the is an mixed with , tending a little to standing grain, with fine and a . Over it he sets a mixed with -, and , the and entering vigorously. The is deep and adheres well, and run, is intermixed, and the is bright and clear. The enters with a little and turns back in a small round with a slight pointed tendency. The published sources call it an outstanding example of this flamboyant manner, one that in a certain vein "calls to mind Moriie and Saburo Kunimune".
The under both manners is an , in places flowing and standing a little, with a that stands clearly on some blades and only faintly on others. The other face of his record is the quiet manner: a with a slight admixture of , the temper narrow and the tight, the running straight into a small round. One signed in this mode, slender with a high , is read by the published sources as showing "workmanship corresponding to the example at Nikko Futarasan Shrine". That shrine's own , an Important Cultural Property, is recorded with a mixed with .
That one smith should temper both a decorative and a restrained is the central question around him. Writing of a in and , the published sources observe that besides such there are works in a -like mode with a tight of the kind seen in the group, and that for this reason "the lineage is not clear". The connection is likewise offered as a matter still requiring study. On a shortened with a two-character signature, the published sources hold that the style makes a relationship with Moriie impossible to deny, and of another they write that, though the relationship is unclear, it is "by no means to be regarded as unrelated".
What sets Tochika apart is carried by his own grounded traits. His brightest turn on - gathered into a clove temper of deep , and one carries a and at the . His quiet turn on a tight over a faint . Both manners stand on the slightly standing and that the published sources describe throughout his record.
Fujishiro grades him Jo-jo . He has no National Treasures. His designated works on record number six: two Important Cultural Properties, one of them held by Futarasan Shrine in Tochigi and the other in private hands, together with one and three . The blade is transmitted as the wearing sword of Matsudaira Terusada, lord of Takasaki Domain, and is accompanied by a Kotsune of Enpo 4 appraising it at five gold coins. Only four of his blades sit in the and tiers, and most designated blades are held rather than traded, so a signed Tochika comes to market only rarely. The published sources call the example "precious as documentary material for understanding the range of this smith's work", and a privately held signed is a notable thing for a collector to encounter.