Etchu Norishige is believed to have been a contemporary of Masamune and a fellow pupil of Shintogo Kunimitsu. This blade has all the characteristics of Norishige's work, with a large itame and mokume hada, with thick lines of jinie known as matsukawa hada [pine bark], and one of his two main styles of signature. The Sanskrit characters on each side of the blade represent the main Buddha of the Shingon sect, Dainichi Nyorai, and the most important of the Go Dai Myo-O [the 'Five Kings of Light'], Fudo-Myo-O.