説明
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ITEM# UJKA450 –
Catalogue 44
– Sold
A Norishige Katana
(則重)
Norishige occupies a singular place among the early Sôshû masters. Working from Etchû Province, he trained under
Shintôgo Kunimitsu
alongside Masamune – and according to Muromachi-period sword texts, was a fellow student rather than a direct pupil of the grandmaster himself. Dated signatures from the
Shôwa
(1312~1317) and
Gen’ô
(1319~1321) eras confirm his active period, and the
Kokon Mei Zukushi
(古今銘尽) and other Edo-period references consistently rank him among Japan’s finest swordsmiths – earning him Fujishiro’s top designation of
saijô-saku
.
What sets Norishige apart is his steel. While his overall workmanship sits closest to that of the great Masamune, his jihada stands out far more prominently – producing the celebrated
matsukawa-hada
, a spiralled grain pattern evoking the furrowed bark of ancient pine trees. This example displays all the hallmarks: stand-out itame with mokume and
nagare
resolving into
matsukawa-hada
, rich chikei and kinsuji threading through the darkish steel, and a bright suguha temper mixed with
gunome
,
ko-notare
and ashi, loaded with fine
nie
and sunagashi. The
bôshi
turns in a nie-laden
ko-maru
with generous
hakikake
– a quintessentially Sôshû finish.
This katana was reviewed by Tanobe Michihiro, one of Japan’s foremost sword scholars, who contributed a sayagaki inscription placing the blade firmly in the Ko-Hôki tradition and noting its abundance of classical features. It holds dual certification: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon and NTHK-NPO Yûshûsaku – the highest honour the NTHK-NPO confers, with four judges’ stamps on the certificate. The blade is presented in
shirasaya
with a superb gold
ni-ju habaki
bearing crisp file marks.
Item Number
UJKA450
Sword Type
Katana
Swordsmith
Attributed to Etchû Norishige (mumei)
School
Sôshû
Province
Etchû
Period
Chû-kotô Kamakura period (Shôwa era: 1312~1317)
Nagasa
61.5cm (ô-suriage)
Sori
1.4cm
Moto-haba
2.81cm
Weight
585g
Nakago
ô