Tomonori belongs to the Uda school of Province, a lineage founded when the monk-smith Konyudo Kunimitsu migrated from Uda District in Yamato to around the Bunpo era (1317-1319) of the late period. The school thereafter prospered through the period, with smiths such as Kunifusa, Kunimune, and Kunitsugu active during the era. According to the , five smiths bearing the name Tomonori are recorded, beginning with one active around the Meitoku era (c. 1390) and continuing to the Eisho era (1504-1521). His surviving works are appraised as dating from the late through the early period, and the term "" is applied to works from this early phase of the lineage.
Tomonori's forging is mixed with , tending toward standing grain, with abundant and finely entering ; the characteristically shows a somewhat dark "'a-iro" tone that the assessors identify as strongly representative of "northern province" work. His ranges from with mixed containing and to broader patterns incorporating and ; in his most dramatic works, is powerfully applied, with coarse particles spilling into the , while and develop to reveal a -like appearance. The in such pieces forms a flame-like configuration with deep tempering and . Even in his quieter pieces, the is bright and .
Among the Uda group, for which extant works are not particularly numerous, Tomonori stands as a smith of high technical ability whose range encompasses both restrained and boldly -laden -style works. An , signed of the kind represented in the 17th-session designation is noted as particularly rare. That one of his works appears in the Kozan further attests to the esteem in which his blades have been held as study material for this school.