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.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchIt has appeared, it has appeared; from an old family, a famous wakizashi has appeared that was cherished for generations, originally a wakizashi of about 1 shaku 8 sun 5 bu which a later samurai, desperate to make it his own sashiryo, shortened to suit his own swordsmanship, and loath to let the precious Norimitsu mei disappear, preserved it as an orikaeshi-mei. Norimitsu is a prestigious lineage of swordsmiths continuing from the school of Osafune Nagamitsu in the Kamakura period. This wakizashi is likely by Bishu Osafune Gorozaemon-no-jo Norimitsu from around the Kansho era (1460) (566 years ago), who was a skilled smith even among the Norimitsu of the Muromachi period. This was a time when crop failures and bad weather continued nationwide, and the response of the Shogunate under the eighth Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who was building Ginkaku-ji, was poor; that dissatisfaction turned into uprisings, the succession dispute of the Kanrei Hatakeyama clan progressed, political confrontation leading to the later Onin no Ran (1467) intensified, and the demand for swords became robust. The sugata of this wakizashi shows a graceful wakizashi appearance with a difference between the moto-mihaba and saki-mihaba and little sori; the jigane is forged in itame-hada, and on the ji, a faint rod-shaped utsuri appears above the ha, forging a jigane with character; the horimono is a skillfully carved bo-hi. The hamon is a high-toned suguba-style blade fired skillfully in a crisp nioi-deki. This time, as we were entrusted with this Norimitsu wakizashi passed down through generations with the message "we have also grown old, so if it can be of any use, please put it to use," we are offering this Bishu Osafune Norimitsu wakizashi at an ultra-low price through their kindness; please by all means enjoy this Norimitsu wakizashi from over 500 years ago.
NihontoWatchOffered by Nipponto
We couldn’t find current papers for this piece. Ask the dealer whether it has been, or can be, submitted to shinsa. — Hoshi
1 on the market
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Bizen · around 1457-1460
1 piece on the market now
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.
We could not find an authenticity certificate on the seller’s listing. Japanese swords and fittings are normally papered by the NBTHK (or the NTHK). Without one, the attribution is the seller’s own assessment and has not been independently verified — treat it with caution and ask the dealer about certification before buying.
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.
¥180,000