NihontoWatchAntique Japanese Sword Katana Signed by Nobutaka with NBTHK Hozon Certificate 【Description】 Summary This blade was signed by Hoki no Kami Fujiwara Nobutaka (伯耆守藤原信高). The swordsmith’s name “Nobutaka” lasted 6th generation during the Edo period. Hoki no Kami was an honorable title given to this swordsmith, and the 1st-5th generation received this title. It is said that Nobutaka was a descendant of Kanekuni, who belonged to Mino koku San-Ami school. We believe the attribution was given to the first-gen Nobutaka, who was especially active during 1596-1615 (Late Azuchi Momoyama- early Edo period). The first-gen Nobutaka was originally from Mino province, which is famous for Japanese sword tradition, MINO-DEN. The first-gen moved to Owari castle at the beginning of the Keicho era(the late 1590s). And he relocated to Nagoya after Nagoya castle was built. There were many swordsmiths from Mino province who moved to Owari province. They are called Owari Seki. The most famous swordsmiths categorized as Owari Seki are the first-gen Hoki no Kami Nobutaka, Hida no Kami Ujifusa, and Sagami no Kami Masatsune. All the highly refined sword-forging techniques the first-gen Nobutaka had passed down to the second-gen. As Owari province(today’s Aichi prefecture) was active in martial arts during the early Edo period, there was much demand among high-class Samurai to order swords forged by the second-gen Nobutaka. He often worked with his son(the third-gen Nobutaka), and there is some remaining work where both signatures are found. This blade is appraised as a Hozon Token (保存刀剣) issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai:日本美術刀剣保存協会). This authentication paper was only given to authentic Japanese swords, especially well preserved and high quality with artistic value. *Please keep in mind that there are a couple of Kitae Kizu on this blade. If you like to know the detailed condition, please feel free to contact us. 【Blade】 Cutting Edge Length(Nagasa) : 69.7 cm (27.5 inches) Curvature(Sori) : 1.06 cm (0.41 inches) Hamon : The crystalline structure which forms along the cutting edge of a blade as a result of the hardening process Jimon(Jihada) : visible steel surface pattern created by folding and hammering during forging process Kissaki : Kissaki is the tip of the Japanese sword. Nakago : Nakago is the tang of the Japanese sword. Japanese swordsmiths left the black rust on the tang because it prevents red rust while the tang is in its handle. And the discoloration of the tang was created over time, and it is a great indicator for a Japanese sword specialist to estimate when the sword was forged. Koshirae : Koshirae is the mounting of the Japanese sword. There are several parts that consist of Koshirae such as Saya (Scabbard), Tsuka (Handle), Tsuba (Handguard). Fuchi-Kashira : A pair of matching sword fittings that cover the upper and bottom parts of its sword hilt. The theme of this Fuchi-Kashira is the “Hanabishi-mon (花菱紋)”, a traditional Japanese family crest. This crest is based on a flower motif that was introduced to Japan from the continent around a thousand years ago. It was commonly used by aristocrats on Kimonos and furnishings. Notable samurai who used this crest include Katsu Kaishū (勝海舟) and Takeda Shingen (武田信玄). Tsuka and Menuki : Tsuka is the handle of the Japanese sword and Menuki is its decoration. The theme of this Menuki is a family crest featuring the paulownia motif known as “Maru ni Go-san Kiri (丸に五三の桐)”. This pattern was once used by the imperial family and people in authority at that time. Today, it is permitted to use by ordinary households and is appreciated as their family crests. According to a tradition, Houou (鳳凰, Fenghuang, a kind of sacred beast) rests its wings at the paulownia tree; therefore, it has come to be regarded as a holy plant. *Please keep in mind that the Tsuma Maki (thread on the handle) is relatively aged and you can see some discoloration. Tsuba and Habaki : Tsuba is the handguard for the Japane
NihontoWatchOffered by Samurai Museum
This piece has sold
8 on the market
Get an email when new Sanami School work hits the market.
Mino-den · Mino
8 pieces on the market now
The San'ami line takes its root in Mino Province, where its head smith Kanenori (兼則) worked as one of the so-called Seki Seven Schools. The setsumei place Kanenori from the close of the Nanbokuchō period into the Ōei era of the early Muromachi, alongside Kanemoto and Kanesada among the representative hands of Sue-Seki, and the earliest extant signed tachi of his is appraised as no later than Ōei. A second early smith, Kanekuni (兼国), is recorded as belonging to the San'ami lineage and is judged to predate the Sue-Seki group proper; the remote ancestry given for him runs variously to a disciple of Naoe Kanetomo, to Yamato Kanekuni, or to Kanenori, though the setsumei note that nothing survives to confirm so distant a descent. From this Mino stock came Hōki no Kami Fujiwara Nobutaka (信高), born at Kami-Ōchi in Mino in 1563 and said to descend from San'ami Kanekuni. After receiving the title Hōki no Kami in Tenshō 9 (1581) he moved to Kiyosu in Owari and, serving Tokugawa Yoshinao, later settled at Nagoya, carrying the line into the early Shintō era through a second generation who took the tonsure in Kanbun 2 (1662). Across the corpus the jigane is itame, often closely forged and tending to nagare-hada or flowing grain along the edge, with ji-nie and a frequent standing of the grain (hada-dachi); a faint whitish cast (shirake) marks the older Mino work of Kanenori and Kanekuni. The temper rests on suguha as a base. In the early hands it is a tight, clear (saete) suguha in nioi-deki, sometimes mixed with small gunome, angular elements and pointed ha, carrying ashi, hotsure and scattered tobiyaki.
The Nobutaka works open this out: a broad suguha shifting to shallow notare, ko-notare with a gunome-flavored edge, deep nioi with nie unevenly applied and partly coarse, nie-kuzure at the yakigashira, kuichigai-ba, kinsuji, sunagashi, yubashiri and tobiyaki that climb into the shinogi-ji until the upper half reads as hitatsura. The bōshi runs to sugu with ko-maru, at times midare-komi, pointed, or hakikake, and the early swords keep a slender, high-sori tachi shape while Nobutaka's carry the wide-bodied, ō-kissaki form of the Momoyama transition. The hand is recognized in this pairing of a flowing Mino itame with a suguha core that, in the descendants, breaks toward bold hitatsura. For kantei, the setsumei fix several anchors. In Kanenori's signature the scooped chisel at the fourth stroke of the character kane (兼) is read as a trait of late Nanbokuchō through Ōei work, matched in dated Kaneyoshi mei; the clear suguha of Kanekuni is likened to a Zenjō Kaneyoshi masterpiece. The jizō-flavored bōshi and the nagare-mixed itame in Nobutaka are named as the surviving stamp of the Mino root beneath his Owari manner, and one of his katana is recorded as an Inabae-utsushi. Provenance runs through the corpus: a Kanekuni bears kinzōgan recording it as the sashiryō of Ōkubo Genban-no-jō Tadanari, lord of Odawara in Sagami, worn at the age of ninety-three; Kanenori's tachi descended in the Yamanouchi family. Among the Owari yari makers beginning with Masatsune, Nobutaka's yari of extraordinary length is held in particular regard, and the second-generation Nobutaka is judged no less skilled than his father, with the finest extant Nobutaka works counted to his hand. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Nobutaka信高 | 1581-1615 | 3 |
| Nobutaka信高 | 1624-1644 | 2 |
| Kanekuni兼國 | 1455-1457 | 1 |
| Kanenori兼則 | 1370-1372 | 1 |
| Nobutaka信高 | 1673-1681 | 0 |
Mino in the Momoyama period
Unification closed the mass market, and Seki’s smiths moved to where the new money was: the Mishina line to Kyōto with court titles, Daidō smiths to castle towns across the provinces. Mino became the great technical ancestor of the Shintō age.
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/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.