川島一城

Born in Aki City, Kochi Prefecture in 1970, he was the eldest son of the 14th generation blacksmith, Masahide Kawashima, and grew up in his father's blacksmith shop.
The sound of steel being struck, the flying sparks, the tension in the training hall - all of these things seeped into him from an early age, naturally leading him to the path of a swordsmith.
After graduating from Kochi Prefectural Aki High School in 1989, he studied under swordsmith Nakada Masanao and learned the basics of sword forging in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture. In 1994, he received approval to make artistic swords. After that, in 1995, he studied under unexamined swordsmith Yoshiwara Kuniie and mastered the techniques of Bizen tradition in earnest. The following year, in 1996, he went independent at the Bizen Osafune Museum sword forging workshop, and exhibited and was selected for the New Masterpiece Sword Exhibition for the first time. In 2003, he opened the "Kawashima Masashiro Japanese Sword Forging Workshop" in Osafune Town. In 2005, he received the Effort Award at the New Masterpiece Sword Exhibition.
The forging process begins with folding and tempering using tamahagane steel, and the blade pattern created by quenching embodies the will of fire, water, and air, imprinting the time spent facing the material on the surface of the jigane steel. Kawashima describes all of the processes - forging, quenching, polishing, filing - as "time to communicate with the material" and "an act of shaping one's inner self."
"A sword is not just a tool for cutting.
It is a mirror that reflects yourself,
It is a vessel for facing your inner voice."
As a modern-day swordsmith, Kawashima continues to inherit traditional techniques while also engaging in dialogue with his own sensibilities and taking each and every sword seriously.

 

Cooperation: Setouchi City