Description ITEM DESCRIPTION: Comes with kimono or cotton bag. Comes with certificate of supein Nihonto. Smith, school, period, and context The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai) —Japan’s central preservation foundation, established in 1948 under government authorization and the body behind the country’s most influential certification framework (including Hozon )—attributes this blade to 薩州正房 (Sasshū Masafusa) . Masafusa belongs to the historic Satsuma (Kagoshima) group that reshaped local swordmaking in the Edo period . Kagoshima’s documented tradition places Masafusa as the successor to Ujifusa , connecting the line to training in Mino and to the later absorption of Sōshū-den methods—an intentional shift away from the older Naminohira/Yamato axis toward a more forceful, “alive” steel surface. This is not marketing language: it points to jigane rich in ji-nie , more pronounced chikei , and a distinctly Satsuma metallurgical “terrain” that specialists recognize immediately. Within that regional vocabulary, sources describe hallmark phenomena such as “imozuru” (vine-like lines associated with ji-nie/chikei behavior), along with nie that can visually push into the ji and a characteristic manner of tempering the bōshi known as satsuma-bōshi . This is technical identity, not ornament. Chronologically, the Masafusa name is documented from early Shintō (17th century) the attribution anchors the work firmly within Edo, broadly c. 17th. Blade A katana with certified nagasa of 67.7 cm , featuring a dark-patinated nakago with one mekugi-ana visible. The geometry reads clean and purposeful, with taut lines and a classic silhouette. Mid-blade, horimono work is present: on one side, a sharply executed symbolic motif ; on the other, a refined set of two fine parallel grooves (suji-hi) accompanied by a small incised mark—adding visual depth without disrupting the elegance of the surface. The result is coherent: controlled ornament where it belongs, and steel kept as the cent

Description ITEM DESCRIPTION: Comes with kimono or cotton bag. Comes with certificate of supein Nihonto. Smith, school, period, and context The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai) —Japan’s central preservation foundation, established in 1948 under government authorization and the body behind the country’s most influential certification framework (including Hozon )—attributes this blade to 薩州正房 (Sasshū Masafusa) . Masafusa belongs to the historic Satsuma (Kagoshima) group that reshaped local swordmaking in the Edo period . Kagoshima’s documented tradition places Masafusa as the successor to Ujifusa , connecting the line to training in Mino and to the later absorption of Sōshū-den methods—an intentional shift away from the older Naminohira/Yamato axis toward a more forceful, “alive” steel surface. This is not marketing language: it points to jigane rich in ji-nie , more pronounced chikei , and a distinctly Satsuma metallurgical “terrain” that specialists recognize immediately. Within that regional vocabulary, sources describe hallmark phenomena such as “imozuru” (vine-like lines associated with ji-nie/chikei behavior), along with nie that can visually push into the ji and a characteristic manner of tempering the bōshi known as satsuma-bōshi . This is technical identity, not ornament. Chronologically, the Masafusa name is documented from early Shintō (17th century) the attribution anchors the work firmly within Edo, broadly c. 17th. Blade A katana with certified nagasa of 67.7 cm , featuring a dark-patinated nakago with one mekugi-ana visible. The geometry reads clean and purposeful, with taut lines and a classic silhouette. Mid-blade, horimono work is present: on one side, a sharply executed symbolic motif ; on the other, a refined set of two fine parallel grooves (suji-hi) accompanied by a small incised mark—adding visual depth without disrupting the elegance of the surface. The result is coherent: controlled ornament where it belongs, and steel kept as the cent