Kawa Bocho Japanese Handmade Leather Knife By Suishinshi Masamori - 124mm

Brand name: Suishinshi Masamori (水心子正盛)

Smith name: Kato Kazuaki (加藤和明，1928～2008)

Type / Purpose: Seller told me it’s a leather processing knife.

Steel: Carbon steel

Cutting edge length: 124mm

Total length: 257mm 

Handle to Tip Length: 135mm

Blade Width at heel:  about 78.0mm

Spine thickness at handle: about 4.60mm

Spine thickness 1cm from the tip: about 3.20mm

Manufacture Era: Late 20th century (according to collector’s memory)

Weight: 173g

Accessories: -

Additional Information: Unused with some signs of rust, but otherwise in good condition. It was acquired from a knife collector who purchased it approximately 20 years ago.

Suishinshi Masamori is the esteemed brand of the Kato Gardening Tool Shop, formerly located in front of Yutenji Temple in Meguro, Tokyo. Unlike standard commercial tools, Masamori blades carry the prestigious DNA of the Suishinshi Masahide school, one of the most significant lineages in the "Shin-to" (New Sword) era of Japanese history.

The first-generation Masamori (初代正盛) was a disciple of Horii Taneaki (堀井胤明), who himself studied under Taikei Naotane (大庆直胤)—the primary disciple of the legendary master Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀).

Through this prestigious lineage, he was granted the use of the "Suishinshi" title. He adopted "Sukekuni III" (三代祐国) as his mark for swords (Katana) and "Masamori" (正盛) as his mark for professional tools.

In the 9th year of the Meiji era (1876), Japan issued the Haitorei (Sword Abolishment Edict). As the samurai class vanished, the livelihood of swordsmiths was severed overnight. To survive, the first-generation Masamori pivoted his masterful sword-making techniques toward the production of high-quality gardening shears and other everyday edge tools.

The second-generation master, Kato Kazuaki (加藤和明, 1928–2008), shared a deep bond with the first-generation Masaaki Kobayashi (小林政明) of the renowned brand "Sadayasu" (定康) in Minami-magome; the two were fellow apprentices under the same lineage.