Antique katana made by the swordsmith Ozaki Masataka in the later Edo period. The smith's name, location, and completion date (February 1854) are engraved on the tang. The blade features a beautiful wavy tempered-line pattern and comes in a completed antique ornate mounting Han-Tachi koshirae. It is registered as Tokubetsu Hozon by NBTHK.
NihontoWatchmei · Ozaki · Edo · nagasa 74.4cm · sori 2.2cm
Settsu · around 1818-1845
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%
4 pieces on the market now
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
For two and a half centuries of peace the sword was the warrior’s legal badge rather than his weapon. Each great city developed its own manner, Edo’s tested strength against Ōsaka’s polished brilliance, until demand thinned in the era’s last decades.
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 siteReturns accepted only for errors/damage: damaged or incorrect items reported by email within 10 calendar days; defective goods within 30 calendar days.
