NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis is a very interesting and beautiful kozuka that the NBTHK has attributed to the Yoshioka school of the Edo period (late 17th century). The design is a simple yet elegant one. The background of the obverse is executed in the finest of shakudo nanako showing the skill of the maker. The size and spacing of the individual nanako are so small and so skillfully made that it takes a magnifying lens to really show the separate strikes of the punch forming each individual nanako. The design on top of the nanako is that of three mirrors with the outside two done in elaborately decorated gold and the center plain one done in shibuichi. The gold mirror on the left of the kozuka (the one nearest the opening for the kozuka blade) is decorated with carvings of bamboo and pine. There are also two kanji carved which read Tensho, the era starting in 1573. The gold mirror on the right seems to be a carving of a door pull with a floral design and a delicate rope attached in its center. In sharp contrast to these two delicate and intricately carved is the center mirror of solid form that has been made in shibuichi. This kozuka was submitted to the NBTHK in 2012 and they attributed it to the Yoshioka school of fittings makers. This is an excellent school with a highly prestigious reputation. Interestingly, however, the NBTHK gave almost no information and description of this kozuka, not even describing the motif in any sort of detail. The translation of the papers is as follows: This is where it gets really interesting, after purchasing this kozuka, the prior owner found a book called Gotô Ke Kozuka Sensû, (A Selection of Gotô School Kozuka), that contains this very kozuka. This book was written by Yagi Akira and Ushikubo Moriji. They attribute this kozuka to the Gotô school and more specifically they feel it was the work of the 10thgeneration mainline master Gotô Renjô (1688-1704). Below is the excerpt of the page from the book and a translation of the write-up of this kozuka: This is a very interesting situation. This is like having a sword that is unsigned with two sets of different papers. In this case, either attribution is a good one as far as the quality or the work of this piece is concerned. I tend to favor the latter assessment of Yagi san and Ushikubo san that this work is by the Gotô school and probably by Gotô Renjo. They certainly seemed to do a more intense study of this piece and while the NBTHK shinsa team most certainly has a good general knowledge of various schools of sword fittings, these other two gentlemen evidently have an in-depth knowledge of the Gotô school and their various artists. Either way, there is no dispute that this is a lovely and exemplarily piece of artistic work that would enhance any collection. It is almost like getting two for the price of one.
Certificate reading — 無銘（吉岡）
NihontoWatchOffered by Nihonto.com
15 on the market
Yoshioka School
Edo
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
Iebori
15 pieces on the market now
The Yoshioka family (Yoshioka-ke) was an authoritative lineage of metalworkers retained by the Tokugawa shogunate, granted a stipend of one hundred hyo (bales of rice) and rations for ten persons. The house was founded by the first-generation master Shigetsugu, who was summoned into service by Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Keicho era (1596--1615), and it flourished continuously through nine generations down to Shigesada at the close of the shogunate. Over successive generations the family adopted the Fujiwara surname, and from the second generation onward each head received the court title Inaba no Suke. Because the works of the earlier generations were all produced as official deliveries to the bakufu, they are entirely unsigned. It is thought that the five-character signature "Yoshioka Inaba no Suke" began to be used from around the fifth generation, Yasutsugu; yet because individual personal names were not inscribed, distinguishing the generations by signature alone remains difficult. Among the named masters whose signed works survive, the fourth-generation Shigehiro--who succeeded to the name Rizaemon in Hoei 3 (1706) and was appointed Inaba no Suke in Hoei 7--and the seventh-generation Terutsugu are the most prominently documented in the designated corpus. The Yoshioka school's collective style is characterized by a steady, reliable carving manner (kenzen na horikuchi) executed principally upon shakudo nanako-ji grounds, enriched with takabori (high-relief carving), kin-iroe (gold color inlay), and kin-suemon (gold applied motifs). Like the Goto family, to which the NBTHK explicitly compares them, the Yoshioka masters worked predominantly in shakudo enhanced with gold, producing fittings of elevated formal tone (kakucho). Their technical repertoire extended to kin-hira-zogan (gold flat inlay), kin-zogan rendered in an ink-painting manner (sumi-e-fu) to capture the momentum of a brushstroke, and polychrome iroe employing diverse colored metals including silver, shibuichi, and suaka.
The school excelled in producing complete unified suites (issaku or so-kanagu) in which tsuba, fuchi-kashira, kozuka, kogai, and menuki share a single design theme--whether the Tokugawa maru-ni-mitsuba-aoi crest, scattered omodaka (water-plantain) crests, ripened rice ears (inaho), or dragon-and-tiger compositions--and are executed with the same materials and techniques throughout. A hallmark of their production is the deployment of family crests in gold upon shakudo nanako-ji, frequently for formal Tokugawa and daimyo commissions: ito-maki tachi koshirae for the Kii Tokugawa house, daishо koshirae conforming to castle-attendance regulations, and ceremonial aikuchi mountings bearing the hollyhock crest. The effect, as the setsumei repeatedly attest, is workmanship that--while sumptuous--remains filled with dignity and refinement. The Yoshioka school occupies a distinguished position in the tosogu canon as the foremost iebori (house-carving) lineage in direct service to the Tokugawa shogunate. The NBTHK assessment that their work is "in no way inferior in tone and authority to the main Goto line"[[c:1]] (Goto honke ni mo otoranu kakucho) places the school at the summit of Edo-period official metalwork. Their production served the highest echelons of the warrior establishment: mountings transmitted from the Kishu Tokugawa family--including one traditionally dated to Jokyo 3 (1686), made to the taste of Tokugawa Mitsusada--and fittings for a sword that was a personal possession (sashiryo) of the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi, later used by the fourteenth shogun Iemochi. Works by the fourth-generation Shigehiro, whose signed tsuba on a Kaga Maeda family ito-maki tachi constitutes valuable documentary material for establishing mid-Edo production chronology, and by the seventh-generation Terutsugu, whose rare personal-name-and-age inscription is deemed indispensable for research into distinguishing the Yoshioka generations, together demonstrate the true worth (shinka) of artisans who served the shogunal house. Across the designated corpus, the school's fittings consistently embody what the setsumei term the full demonstration of the merit of a shogunate-employed master metalworker. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Inaba no Suke因幡介 | 1670 | 6 |
| Shigesada重貞 | — | 0 |
| Kiyotsugu清次 | — | 0 |
| Morotsugu師次 | — | 0 |
| Tadatsugu尹次 | — | 0 |
Certifies a genuine fitting worth preserving: a correct signature, or, if unsigned, an identifiable era and school, with recognized artistic and craft value.
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 siteThree-day inspection period and seven-day return period; buyer notifies by email within three days of receipt, no reason needed; full refund once item returned undamaged and unaltered.
$2,000