Masashige Kudoh

 Masashige Kudoh (Name: Yoshihiro Kudo) was born in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture in 1976, and raised at Iruma in Saitama Prefecture. He encountered the work of swordsmiths while in high school and decided to become a swordsmith when the moment he saw it. He began attending Master Swordsmith: Masahira Fujiyasuin at Fukushima Prefecture while still in high school, and in 1995 he formally became an apprentice. One of the swords he made as a graduation test got the prize for the Effort to Sword and Newcomer Award in the "Long Sword category" at the 2004 National Competition (NBTHK), even though it was his first time exhibiting it.

 In 2005, he opened the "Masashige Swordsmithing Workshop" in Kiryu City. He got the prize in the Excellence Award in the "Long Sword Category" at the National competition (NBTHK), and was then awarded the Effort to Sword in the "Short Sword Category" in 2006. In 2021 he got the prize in the Excellence Award in the “Long Sword Category” and third place in the Effort to the Sword in the “Short Sword Category” at the National competition (NBTHK), In the same year, swordsman used his sword at Japan Batto-do Federation National Tournament, and won first place in the 2nd and 3rd Dan Practical Division.

 While capturing the swords from the Heian and Kamakura periods, he aims to create beautiful and functional swords with minimal effort. He also actively researches new techniques and materials for the sword-making he seeks to achieve, such as performing his tatara production and using Tamahagane steel made overseas.

 When it comes to the production of items other than swords, he often makes everything from the handles to the sheaths himself, which is unusual for a swordsmith who works in a division of labour system, and the precision of his work reveals the aesthetic eye he has cultivated since his youth. In 2024, he had a "Swords and Sculptures" exhibition in Ginza with sculptor Osamu Sotomaru, He actively collaborated with other fields using his swordsmithing techniques.