Mino was founded, tradition holds, by immigrants: Kaneuji of the Yamato Tegai line settled at Shizu to work in the new Sōshū manner, so persuasively that later appraisers judged his best blades the closest of any to Masamune.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchIt has appeared, it has appeared; a sun-nobi tanto by Kaneyoshi of the famous Mino Seki Zenjo school, which has been carefully passed down through the generations of an old family, has appeared. The works of Kaneyoshi are famous for being almost entirely, one might say without exception, works with the family tradition of suguha yakiba. The first generation Kaneyoshi was a famous master swordsmith of an old prestigious lineage and the founder of the Zenjo school; around the Ko-o era (1389) (637 years ago) of the Nanbokucho period, the son of Yamato Tegai Kaneyoshi moved to Seki along with Yamato Shizu Kaneyuji, where Yamato Shizu began to sign as Kaneyuji and Kaneyoshi began to sign as Kaneyoshi. Although the name Kaneyoshi is famous, because many were consumed during the Sengoku period, extant works are extremely few, and this sun-nobi tanto by Kaneyoshi is wonderfully precious. This tanto is a Kaneyoshi tanto from around the Daiei era (1521) (505 years ago) of the Muromachi period, exactly the same time when Magoroku Kanemoto and Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kanesada (Nosada) were active. It was a time when the 10th Shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane was pursued by the Hosokawa family and the Ashikaga Bakufu was in decline, when the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Gokashiwara was delayed at the Imperial Court due to financial difficulties, and when Sengoku daimyo rose to power in place of Shugo daimyo, leading to a robust demand for katana, wakizashi, and tanto. The sugata of this tanto shows a grand and healthy tanto sugata with a wide moto-mihaba and a wide saki-mihaba. The jigane shows a tight ko-itame hada with ji-nie on the ji, and the hamon is a crisp and splendidly tempered suguha in nioi-hon'i unique to Kaneyoshi, with the yasurime on the nakago being higaki-yasuri, making it a charming sun-nobi tanto. On this occasion, because we received this from an old family who said that they have grown old and asked us to pass this tanto by Kaneyoshi, the head smith of the Zenjo school, to someone who will cherish it at a low price, we are offering this 500-year-old Kaneyoshi tanto at an ultra-bargain price through their special kindness. Please do enjoy it.
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3 on the market
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As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Mino-den · Mino · around 1390-1394
Tōken Taikan top 37%
Where Kaneyoshi stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
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Mino-den · Mino
3 pieces on the market now
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kaneshige兼重 | 1504-1521 | 0 |
| Kaneyoshi兼吉 | 1854-1860 | 0 |
| Kanekado兼門 | 1428-1429 | 0 |
| Yoshikado吉門 | 1624-1644 | 0 |
| Chikanori近則 | 1818-1864 | 0 |
Mino in the Nanbokuchō period
Mino was founded, tradition holds, by immigrants: Kaneuji of the Yamato Tegai line settled at Shizu to work in the new Sōshū manner, so persuasively that later appraisers judged his best blades the closest of any to Masamune.
For returns due to customer circumstances, the cost is the customer's responsibility. For returns due to our mis-shipment or a defective item, we bear the cost.