After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
This is a signed Sankaku (three-sided) yari by Soshu Sukehiro, dating to the mid-Muromachi period. It features an itame mokume hada with chikei, a suguba hamon with ko nie, and a ko maru boshi with a long kaeri. The blade is in professional polish, housed in a well-made shirasaya, and comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
NihontoWatchmei · Soshu · Muromachi · nagasa 30.3cm
Sagami · around 1469-1487
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
After the Ōnin War broke the Ashikaga order, a century of Sengoku warfare armed nearly every province in Japan. The era rewards a discriminating eye: routine work exists in quantity, and beside it stand custom blades of the first rank.
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
NBTHK official site3-day return window from receipt.
