Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchProudly listed by: Samurai Store, Inc. JAPAN 2-4 weeks for the export permit to be granted. We Ship Worldwide via EMS / UPS / Surface Item# T4516 Antique Katana sword in Ornate Mounting NBTHK Hozon certificated (Well Preserved certificate) Swordsmith school: NAGANOBU Listed on June-7, 2025. A quality old Katana sword from SAMURAI STORE Yokohama sword store . A complete set of antique Katana long sword and ornate mountings in excellent condition. Authentic forged Tamahagane steel blade made by swordsmith Fujiwara NAGANOBU in 1859, late Edo "Shogun" period. A certificate Hozon paper "Preservation Sword" by NBTHK (Japan Sword Preservation Society) comes with. Inscription of the sword smith, location, and completion time (August, 1859) are engraved on a side of balde tang. The great Gunom-Choji wavy tempered line pattern on the blade. Comes in a stunningly beautiful ornate mounting including an iron Tsuba hand guard and a pair of golden hilt ornaments finished with gold-incrustations. A Shirazaya wooden storage holder comes with. The blade comes with Certificate of NBTHK Japan Sword Preservation Society - Hozon Paper (Well preserved sword) BLADE: Authority/Registration# Kagawa-5683 *This number means that the blade is verified and registered as an authentic Japanese sword by the board of education and public safety commission. Blade Material : Authentic Forged & Polished Steel Blade Inscription : Smith name and location (Edo Tokyo) Inscription (back): Completion year and month (Aug-1859) smith school: NAGANOBU 長信 Smith Location : Edo, Tokyo and the smith school is originally from Izumo (Shimae pref.) Age : 1859 (Late Edo period) Tempered Line Pattern : Gunome-Choji Geat wavy pattern Blade Length: 65.1cm Overall Length: 98cm Curvature ( Sori ): 1.5cm Rivet Holes: 3 Grooves: - NBTHK Certificate: Hozon paper (Well pfeserved sword) KOSHIRAE Ornate Mountings: Tsuba Hand guard gold-incrustations Fuchi Pommel gold-incrustations Kashira Pommel at base gold-incrustations Saya
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Wakimono · Izumo · around 1830-1860
Fujishiro Jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 31%
1 piece on the market now
Where Naganobu 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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Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Wakimono · Izumo
1 piece on the market now
The Unshū grouping gathers smiths of Izumo province (Unshū), and the blades carrying this attribution do not form one continuous lineage so much as two widely separated moments in the province's work. The earlier is Unshū Tadazane, a signed katana placed around the Eishō era (1504 to 1521) in the late Muromachi period. The later is Takahashi Naganobu, also recorded as Unshū Naganobu and Takahashi Rihei, a late-Edo smith dated by his own inscriptions to Ansei 3 (1856) and Man'en 1 (1860). Naganobu styled himself the seventeenth-generation successor of Wakasa Fuyuhiro; around the close of the Tenpō era he went to Edo and studied under Chōunsai Tsunatoshi, and after gaining recognition he served as a retained smith (kakae-kō) of the Matsudaira house of Matsue in Unshū until his death in Meiji 12 (1879). Because the two hands belong to different centuries and different stylistic worlds, the group reads as a provincial wakimono gathering rather than a school of fixed transmission. Across these blades the shared ground is a tightly forged ko-itame-hada with ji-nie adhering, after which the two hands diverge. Tadazane's ko-itame packs closely and flows toward the edge with masame mixed in, carrying a wide suguha mingled with small gunome, ashi and yō entering well, ko-nie and sunagashi, and a subdued (shizumi) nioiguchi; his bōshi runs straight to ko-maru with a long kaeri, and the overall effect was read by the NBTHK as sharing features with the Bizen smiths Kiyomitsu and Tadamitsu.
Naganobu instead builds bold, long sugata of wide mihaba with little taper, his ko-itame often taking on an almost plain (muji) look with abundant chikei. His preferred temper is neatly aligned chōji mixed with gunome in nioi-deki, though one of his katana hardens a flamboyant gunome-midare of round heads with a deep, bright nioiguchi and yubashiri. The most reliable signpost to his hand lies in the nakago: reverse ō-sujikai filemarks with keshō, named in the setsumei as a characteristic feature. For kantei the group resolves to its named smiths rather than a collective signature. Tadazane is recognized by his Bizen-leaning suguha-gunome and subdued nioiguchi, his example preserved with a Higo-style shuhen-nuri handachi koshirae. Naganobu is identified through his reverse ō-sujikai tang finishing, his Tsunatoshi-derived chōji, and on occasion a vigorous midare whose assertive spirit the setsumei likens to superior works of the Yamaura lineage; his commissioned blade names Tomono Shigenari of the Matsujō domain and records its making at Kōji Street in the eastern capital. The standing of the group rests on these two distinct workmanships, each documented within the records of its own province. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Naganobu長信 | 1830-1860 | 2 |
| Tadasada忠貞 | 1492-1501 | 1 |
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
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 siteReturns accepted only for errors/damage: damaged or incorrect items reported by email within 10 calendar days; defective goods within 30 calendar days.