This is a Katana by Echizen Yasutsugu, the 2nd generation smith, from the early Edo period. It is a wide and thick stout blade with a slightly big curvature, featuring fine Ko-itame hada with much Jinie and a Nie-based thick Suguha and Notare hamon. The blade comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certificate.
Certificate reading — 銘 (葵紋) 以南蛮鉄於武州江戸越前康継
NihontoWatchmei · Kanei (1624-1644) · nagasa 75.7cm · sori 1.8cm
Shinto · Echizen · around 1660-1673
Tōken Taikan top 14%
8 pieces on the market now
Where Yasutsugu 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinto · Echizen
52 pieces on the market now
The Shimosaka name began not as a single hand but as a trademark shared by a band of Echizen smiths at the dawn of the shinto era, and the designated record gathers their work under that one signature rather than parsing it into individuals. The published sources read the early inscriptions, the generic Echizen no Kuni Shimosaka and the titled Higo Daijo Fujiwara Shimosaka, as the product of a group, of which the first-generation Yasutsugu served as the representative. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1596-1615 | 73 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1624-1644 | 27 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1661-1673 | 8 |
| Sadakuni貞國 | 1596-1615 | 11 |
| Shigetaka重高 | 1596-1615 | 6 |
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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
This is a Katana by Echizen Yasutsugu, the 2nd generation smith, from the early Edo period. It is a wide and thick stout blade with a slightly big curvature, featuring fine Ko-itame hada with much Jinie and a Nie-based thick Suguha and Notare hamon. The blade comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certificate.
Certificate reading — 銘 (葵紋) 以南蛮鉄於武州江戸越前康継
NihontoWatchmei · Kanei (1624-1644) · nagasa 75.7cm · sori 1.8cm
Shinto · Echizen · around 1660-1673
Tōken Taikan top 14%
8 pieces on the market now
Where Yasutsugu 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.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
Years he was demonstrably active, proven by signed-and-dated blades
Shinto · Echizen
52 pieces on the market now
The Shimosaka name began not as a single hand but as a trademark shared by a band of Echizen smiths at the dawn of the shinto era, and the designated record gathers their work under that one signature rather than parsing it into individuals. The published sources read the early inscriptions, the generic Echizen no Kuni Shimosaka and the titled Higo Daijo Fujiwara Shimosaka, as the product of a group, of which the first-generation Yasutsugu served as the representative. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1596-1615 | 73 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1624-1644 | 27 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1661-1673 | 8 |
| Sadakuni貞國 | 1596-1615 | 11 |
| Shigetaka重高 | 1596-1615 | 6 |
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 siteIf you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
