From Seki to the Inland Sea. The first Teruhiro was signing in Mino in 1589 before taking service with the Fukushima and then the Asano at Hiroshima; generations of the name followed, arming Aki province to the end of the Edo age. The early masters carry the designations — the long continuation was a domain forge doing its steady work.
The The Aki Teruhiro School (安芸輝広), active 1589–1868 in Aki Province across 13 documented smiths: 0 Kokuhō (National Treasures), 0 Jūbun, 1 Jūbi, 1 Tokubetsu Jūyō, 41 Jūyō.
Phase 1 · The Aki Teruhiro School (安芸輝広) · 1589 – 1868
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1589-1615. Jūbi, Tokujū, Jūyō. A katana 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. Higo no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro is the founder of the Aki Teruhiro line of Hiroshima. The published sources record the transmitted account: a native of Mino said to descend from Seki Kanetsune, he first signed Kanetomo, studied under Umetada Myōju, entered the service of Fukushima Masanori, changed his name to Teruhiro and received the title Higo no Kami, and followed his lord to Kiyosu in Owari and then, in Keichō 5, to Hiroshima in Geishū. The Tenshō katana shows that he already signed Teruhiro while still in Mino, and the published sources conclude that he had "already reached maturity before entering Myōju's school"[[c:1]]. The teaching relationship with Myōju, they write, now needs fresh examination and is "left to future research"[[c:2]].
His surviving work is exceedingly scarce. The earliest papers judge that it does "not exceed ten fingers even counting katana, tantō and naginata together"[[c:3]], and later papers repeatedly give "fewer than twenty pieces"[[c:4]], counting katana, tantō, yari and naginata. Within that small record the long weapons predominate. The published sources note that "among them, naginata survive from time to time"[[c:5]], and the yari include a great ōmi-yari of a shaku and a half, of which they write that "a large spear reaching a shaku and five sun is rare, and the workmanship is also excellent"[[c:6]].
The Tenshō katana sets the measure of his hand. It is somewhat wide, with little taper, a strong *sakizori* and an *ō-kissaki*. The *jigane* is an *itame* mixed with *nagare-hada*, taking *masame* toward the edge and standing somewhat in *hada-dachi*, with *ji-nie*. The *hamon* is *notare*-based and boxes up in places into large patterns, with *gunome-chōji*-like elements, *tobiyaki* and *muneyaki*, *ashi* and *yō*, deep *nie*, *kinsuji* and *sunagashi*. The published sources call it "an outstanding blade of the first-generation Teruhiro showing a bold style"[[c:7]], "overflowing with presence together with its wide body and ō-kissaki"[[c:8]]. The Higo no Kami katana designated at the very first session is read in another key, as a work "that admired the Shizu style, one of the fine pieces among his works"[[c:9]]. Its flowing *itame* runs toward *masame* and is *zanguri*, and its *ko-notare* with *gunome* is crossed with *sunagashi*.
On the naginata the *itame* flows, often toward *masame*, and stands in places, with *ji-nie*. The *hamon* is a *ko-notare* or *notare* mixed with *gunome*, small *gunome* and pointed elements, with *ashi*, *yō* and *sunagashi*, the *nioiguchi* sometimes tight and sometimes settling into *shizumi*. One is singled out as the work "showing the most spirited style among his works"[[c:10]], another as "a work that does not shame the name of a master smith"[[c:11]]. The yari are forged in *masame* or a flowing grain and tempered in a *suguha*-toned shallow *notare* with small *gunome*, the *nioiguchi* bright. A few wide, elongated *hira-zukuri* tantō and wakizashi stand apart. Of one tantō the published sources write that it "shows no trace at all of having studied under Umetada Myōju"[[c:12]], showing instead the Owari Seki manner of its day while being well made, and of a hira-wakizashi that it "shows the Seki manner and is well made"[[c:13]].
Two features run through the whole record. His *bōshi* enters *midare* and finishes pointed, often turning back long, far more often than on the blades of his son-in-law, whose *bōshi* runs mostly straight to a *ko-maru*. And the published sources name a deep *nioi* only once for him, where it is the constant of the second generation's *ko-notare*. 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 Higo no Kami, and the second received Harima no Kami"[[c:14]]. After the Fukushima house was dispossessed the line served the Asano daimyō, and "the descendants served the Asano family and have prospered in this place for generations"[[c:15]].
Fujishiro grades him Jō-jō saku. Seventeen designated works are on record: the Tenshō katana, first designated Jūyō and later raised to Tokubetsu Jūyō, a prewar Jūyō Bijutsuhin katana, and Jūyō naginata, yari, tantō, wakizashi and katana. For a collector the long weapons are the realistic encounter: a naginata or yari by his hand comes to light from time to time, while a signed katana, of which so few survive, is a rare event. The Tenshō katana itself is a landmark of early Shintō scholarship, a single blade that changed how the founder of a Hiroshima house is understood.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1624-1644. Jūyō. Harima no Kami Teruhiro is the second generation of the Aki Teruhiro line of Hiroshima, and the published sources date him by a single document: "the oldest date we have seen is Keichō 15"[[c:1]]. He was an Owari man of the Kanie family, commonly called Jinpachi, who first signed Kanehisa and studied under the founder, Higo no Kami Teruhiro, until he was "recognized by his teacher and made his son-in-law"[[c:2]]. He served the Fukushima house and, after its dispossession, the Asano. Because of the Keichō 15 piece the published sources hold that "his working years differ little from the first-generation Teruhiro's"[[c:3]], and from the closeness of the two styles they infer that he, like the founder, was connected with Umetada Myōju. Dates of Kan'ei 5 and Kan'ei 9 extend his record.
His principal manner is a *ko-notare* carried in a deep *nioi*, mixed with *gunome*, angular *gunome* and blades of a pointed tendency, with *ashi*, thick *nie*, *kinsuji* and *sunagashi*, in places *yubashiri* and small ball-like *tobiyaki*, and a bright, clear *nioiguchi*. The published sources compare it with the founder's and find the *gunome* stronger: on one katana "the gunome stands out more than in the first generation"[[c:4]], on a wakizashi the work is "more marked than usual by gunome between the undulations, deep in nioi and well covered in ko-nie"[[c:5]]. Of his finest naginata, its *jigane* bright and clear, they write that it is "truly the essence of this smith"[[c:6]] and "an excellent work in which the true strength of the second-generation Teruhiro is fully shown"[[c:7]].
The *jigane* is where he most clearly parts from the founder. An *itame* mixed with *mokume* and *nagare-hada*, standing somewhat in *hada-dachi*, carries *ji-nie* laid thick in dust-fine particles, and *chikei* enter frequently, the steel clear. The published sources single the forging out again and again; on one katana "the forging is particularly excellent"[[c:8]]. The *bōshi* most often turns in a *ko-maru*.
Most of his designated work takes one form, the wide, strongly elongated, thick *hira-zukuri* ko-wakizashi of Keichō-shintō shape, "the sun-nobi hira-zukuri ko-wakizashi so common among his works"[[c:9]]. The published sources read these as aimed at Shizu, "succeeding in aiming at the manner of Shizu"[[c:10]], and call the type "of course also his typical work"[[c:11]]. Some are *katakiriba-zukuri*, a form also seen in Myōju, but "unlike the kiriha of his teacher Myōju, the kiriha runs through to the tip of the tang"[[c:12]]. Katana are fewer, and the sources note that "katana are rare for the second-generation Teruhiro"[[c:13]]. One of them, tempered in a straight *chū-suguha*, is called outstanding: "this katana is tempered in suguha and is of outstanding workmanship"[[c:14]].
He also turned deliberately to older masters. A massive, thick wakizashi with a large *midare* of *ko-notare*, angular *gunome* and pointed blades is read as modeled on "Sōshū Sadamune, whom he admired most"[[c:15]]. A *kanmuri-otoshi* wakizashi carved with *naginata-hi*, tempered in a *chū-suguha* with *hotsure* and *kuichigai-ba*, is read as aiming at "old Yamato work, and above all Taima"[[c:16]], and the sources add that "of this kind of work, this one blade is the only example we have seen"[[c:17]]. A thick tantō is thought "to have taken a high Sōshū master as its model"[[c:18]], and a broad katana with a wide, high *notare* and *koshi-ba* "shows a manner recalling Muramasa"[[c:19]]. Through all of these the flowing *hada*, the pointed blades and a Sanpin-style *bōshi* show the published sources "that he was a swordsmith of Mino descent"[[c:20]].
Fujishiro grades him Jō-jō saku, and twenty-seven designated works are on record: twenty-six in the Jūyō tier, and one tantō, signed Harima no Kami Fujiwara Teruhiro saku, recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection. The published sources observe that "tantō signed Harima no Kami Teruhiro are by no means few in number, but those with dates are exceedingly rare"[[c:21]], so that his dated pieces carry documentary weight, and that his works are said to bear few carvings, "it is said that Harima no Kami Teruhiro's works have few carvings"[[c:22]], though the few that do are skilled. For a collector his ko-wakizashi are the realistic encounter, appearing from time to time, while a katana or a dated piece is rare.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1624-1644. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1661-1673. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1661-1673. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1711-1716. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Other smiths
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1716-1736. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1716-1736. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1716-1736. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1748-1751. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1772-1781. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1801-1804. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.
Teruhiro (輝廣) — Mainline · 1844-1848. Smith of the Aki Teruhiro School.