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Ôno Yoshimitsu's real name is Yoshikawa Mitsuo. He uses Ôno Yoshimitsu as his "art name" when forging swords. He was born in 1948 in Kurosaki city, Niigata prefecture. Yoshimitsu attended Ono elementary school and Kursaki primary school before graduating from Niigata Prefectural High School of Commerce. He went on to enter Nippon University's Agricultural Veterinary Department. While he was a student he developed an interest in Japanese swords. In 1969 he joined the swordsmith studio of the Yoshihara brothers, Shoji and Yoshindo. By 1975 he had received his swordsmith license from the Agency of Cultural Affairs and in the same year he received the Award for Excellence at the 11th Shinsaku-meitoten (the annual exhibition of modern swords held at the Japanese Sword Museum).

In March of 1976 Yoshimitsu opened his own forge in Kurosaki city, Niigata. He was married to Yoshikawa Kazue in 1977 and they settled in Tokyo. During the next 3 years Yoshimitsu won the Award for Effort each and every year. In 1981 he received the Award for Excellence again. Then, in 1982 at the 17th Shinsaku-meitotan he won the Prince Takamatsu Award, a great honor. Yoshimitsu went on to win the Chairman of the Agency for Cultural Affairs award in 1983 and for the next four consecutive years won the Prince Takamatsu Award. It was during this time (1984) that Yoshimitsu received an invitation from Japan's premier shrine, Ise, to produce a sacred sword for the shrine's 61st shrine reconstruction ceremonies. He was elevated to the rank of Mukansa (above competition) in 1987 and has entered swords every year since in the Mukansa division. In 1989 Yoshimitsu was once again asked to make a sacred blade for the Ise Shrine, this time a sacred spear.

Ôno Yoshimitsu is well known for his work in recreating the famous Yamatorige but with his own style firmly imprinted on each blade. They are nioi-deki with ko-nie, ashi and yo and often include gorgeous utsuri. Yoshimitsu is equally comfortable working in many different styles and we hope to be able to document both his famous style as well as some of his less commonly work styles here on this site.

Click here to see work currently available by Ôno Yoshimitsu