Echizen Seki 越前関 is a school of Seki blacksmiths in the former province of Mino (Gifu) who settled in Echizen (Fukui) during the Keicho era (1596-1615).

Seki blacksmiths are part of the Mino Den forging tradition which was one of the most successful traditions, along with that of Bizen. This tradition officially began at the end of Kamakura with Kaneuji from the Yamato and Kaneshige (Kinju) traditions, both linked to the great Masamune of the Soshu tradition.
The smiths of Mino were then particularly solicited and productive during the Sengoku Jidai 戦国時代 (1477-1573), thanks to the great local warlords, until the great battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which took place in this same province.

It was around this time that blacksmiths from Mino, such as Kanenori and Kanetane, settled in the province of Echizen north of Mino. It was then a rich province ruled by a branch of the powerful Tokugawa clan, Edo-era shogun.
This province then attracted many wealthy nobles linked to the court and who found themselves under the indirect protection of the Shogun. With this rich population, many artisans settled to sell their productions. Among these artisans, the renowned Yasutsugu 康継, originally from the neighboring province of Omi, founder of the Echizen Shimosaka school, who became official forger of the Shogun.
The Echizen Seki and Echizen Shimosaka schools were the two major blacksmith schools in Echizen province.

It is noteworthy that the tradition of Mino had a significant number of talented blacksmiths since its beginnings. But as a result of strong demand and mass production to supply the clans and armies, a decline in quality still took place during the Sengoku Jidai and Azuchi Momoyama, Periods of great wars that culminated in the reunification of Japan by the Tokugawa clan and the early Edo era. It was then that the blacksmiths could take their time to reproduce works of very high quality with very aesthetic tempers.