Nara Tsuneshige was born into the Sekiguchi family and then adopted by the Kawamura family. He studied under Nara Shigetsugu. Only one piece is known by him which uses the name Nara Tsuneshige. He employed several art-names including Masayoshi, Chikusha, Torin and Ryoka, but it is rare to find these on his work. He normally uses only Tsuneshige which is employed almost as a monogram and was used by his students, as well.