The first-generation Harima Daijo Shigetaka was a disciple of the first-generation Echizen Yasutsugu, and among the smiths of the Echizen group he is regarded as possessing the highest level of skill. An extant wakizashi bearing a date of Genna 2 (1616) establishes his period of activity in the early Edo period. The line continued through several generations into the Bakumatsu, yet it is the shodai whose work most closely approaches the range of his master. While many Echizen smiths characteristically finish their tangs in ken-gata form, Shigetaka is distinctive in employing kurijiri, with the first generation tending toward a particularly shallow contour.
Shigetaka's forging presents tightly packed itame-hada mixed with mokume, with ji-nie adhering well and fine chikei entering; the steel frequently bears a darkened, "kane-colored" tone that the NBTHK setsumei note as especially noteworthy in comparison with typical Echizen work. His hamon characteristically favors suguha-cho with shallow notare, mixed with ko-gunome and somewhat pointed elements; ashi enter well, the nioi is deep with thick nie, and kinsuji and sunagashi appear throughout. The boshi typically forms ko-maru with a rather deep kaeri, showing hakikake at the tip. His manner of signing is compact and vertically tightened, executed with a thick chisel. The naginata-zukuri wakizashi modeled after the celebrated Meibutsu "Honebami Toshiro" is praised as one of his greatest masterpieces, demonstrating faithful utsushi technique and splendid horimono in the kinai-bori manner.
Surviving works by the shodai are not commonly encountered, and among them katana are particularly few; hira-zukuri wakizashi are comparatively numerous, while tanto include both hira-zukuri and kanmuri-otoshi-zukuri forms. The kanmuri-otoshi examples display an archaic manner suggesting an intention to evoke old Yamato precedents. Across his oeuvre, the refinement and compactness of the forging stands apart from ordinary Echizen production.
