Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchNAGINATA NTHK X 2 SHIRASAYA Outstanding signed, papered, ubu naginata by Takada Iesada, it is signed niji mei (two character). It is so nice to find naginata which have not been cut down. This flawless naginata is in excellent condition and polish. The hada is Itame with chikei. The hamon is an extremely active gunome midare with tons of hataraki guaranteed to provide endless study pleasures. There are clouds of nio with nie, ashi, yo, inazuma, yubashiri etc., etc. There is naginata hi and on both sides there are Myogo inscribed. One side reads: Hachiman Daibosatsu (Great Buddha to be), known as the God of War or the Tutelary God Warriors is inscribed on the left side. During the age of the samurai, descendants of both samurai clans, Seiwa Genji (清和源氏 Seiwa Gen-ji, a line of the Minamoto clan descended from Emperor Seiwa) and Kanmu Taira (桓武平氏 Kanmu Taira’u-ji/ Hei-shi/ Hei-ji, a line of the Taira clan descended from Emperor Kanmu) honored Hachiman, from which the tradition is derived nationwide in which samurai clans (武家 “buke” in Japanese) honor Hachiman as the deity sacred to them. His other roles include determining a samurai’s fate—i.e., whether they are a success or failure in battle; controlling and protecting the martial arts; and proclaiming the victory of an army.1 The other side reads: Kasuga Daimyojin which is reference to both the Kasuga-taisha or shrine as well as the collective deities (Kami) associated with the shrine is inscribed on the right side. The birth of the Kasuga-taisha shrine, according to legend, began when the first kami of Kasuga-taisha, Takemikazuchi, rode on the back of a white deer to the top of Mount Mikasa in 768 BC. This kami is said to have traveled from the Kashima Jingu Shrine in order to protect Nara. The shrine location first received favor from the Imperial government in the Heian period as a result of the power from the Fujiwara family as well as Empress Shōtoku.1 The four main kami enshrined here are Ame no koyane, Himegami, Futsunushi no mikoto, and Takemikazuchi no mikoto. Though these are the primary divine beings of Kasuga taisha, they are often grouped together as a syncretic, combined deity known as Kasuga Daimyōjin. Kasuga Daimyōjin is composed of five divine beings and each consists of a Buddhist deity and Shinto kami counterpart. The fifth deity, Ame-no-Oshikumone, was added much later and is said to be the divine child of Ame no koyane and Himegami. The importance of the multifaceted kami was that it became a template for future worshipers who wanted to combine several deities to pray to at once.1 Forged in a period steeped in war prior to the unification of Japan by Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokagawa Ieyasu. While a beautiful work of art, make no mistake this blade was made for battle and carried prayers of victory and protection for whoever wielded it. This naginata comes with not one, but two sets of papers. Both NTHK & NTHK-NPO authenticated this mei as shoshin. The NTHK-NPO gave this naginata an outstanding 77 pts., which is equivalent to the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon. An added benefit is the two piece gold habaki made the master maker Brian Tschernega. This sword comes with a 48-hr. inspection period. Please refer to the Policy Page for complete details. NLA
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Wakimono · Bungo
The blades gathered under the Bungo name reach back to the ko-kaji working on Kyūshū from the close of the Heian period, and the setsumei trace two distinct strands rather than a single continuous house. The earliest hands belong to the classical Kyūshū group (Kyūshū koten-ha): Yukihira (行平) of Bungo, his associate the Mount Hiko monk Sadahide (定秀), and the still older Chōen (長円), whose orikaeshi-mei katana the records identify with the Minamoto treasure tachi Usugoromo and place no later than the time of Yukihira. Yukihira is the center of gravity, dated by an extant Genkyū 2 (1205) tachi to the early Kamakura period and transmitted both as a goban kaji serving the retired Emperor Go-Toba and as either teacher or pupil of Sadahide; the sources leave that relationship unsettled. A signed Kamisoku (神息) tachi enters the group on the strength of workmanship close to Yukihira's, and a Sadahide ko-tachi extends the strand into well-recorded examples. Far removed in time stands the Muromachi material: a Norisada (則貞) katana of Kutsunami-gō in Naoiri District, dated Hōtoku 3 (1451), which the setsumei explicitly tie to the Takada lineage. Between the two strands the records draw a thread through Chikushi Masatsune (筑紫正恒), transmitted in the reference works as Yukihira's grandson. The classical strand shares a tight vocabulary. The sugata is slender with a ko-kissaki, high koshizori, and pronounced funbari, an archaic tachi form that the entries read as not descending beyond the early Kamakura. The jigane is a soft, nettori (viscous) itame with a nagare tendency, often with a whitish cast and a suggestion of utsuri; ji-nie and fine chikei adhere. The hamon is suguha-based, mixed with ko-midare and ko-gunome, carrying ko-ashi and ko-nie, with faint kinsuji and occasional yubashiri; the recurring marks are a nioiguchi tending toward urumi (moist and soft) and a yakiotoshi where the temper drops above the machi.
The setsumei tie these traits to the most archaic manner of the Shōsōin swords and find them echoed in other early Kyūshū work such as Ko-Hōki and Ko-Naminohira. Sadahide's blades are described as built in Yukihira's mold, down to the urumi nioiguchi. The Muromachi Norisada diverges: a longer katana with added sakizori and a chū-kissaki, chū-suguha with small gunome and a faint standing utsuri, its dekiguchi subdued (jimi) rather than archaic. Recognition of the classical hands turns on a cluster of habits the records name as Yukihira's own. He signs the haura, the side worn inward, against the practice of his period, a placement the entries compare to Sanjō Munechika and the Ko-Aoe line. His blades frequently bear relief (ukibori) carvings set in hi at the koshi-moto: kurikara, bonji, Jizō Bosatsu, cherry blossoms, and the "pine-devouring crane" (matsukui-zuru), a carving repertoire the sources say later Bungo work inherited. The early oshigata literature, citing the Kanchi-in Meizukushi, records that forgeries existed from Kamakura and warns that crude mei are the genuine ones. Named pieces carry the standing: the Usugoromo tachi, bestowed by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi on Honjō Suketoshi and carrying Hon'ami Kōchū origami; Yukihira tachi with aoi-crest mountings and Hon'ami Kōon papers; a Sadahide tachi received by the Mōri house from Emperor Go-Mizunoo. The Muromachi entries close the picture by marking the Norisada blade as documentary material for the scarcely studied Kutsunami smiths and their Takada affinity, holding the two Bungo strands apart as the blades themselves do. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Choen長圓 | 987-989 | 1 |
| Kunishige國重 | 1381-1384 | 1 |
| Munechika宗近 | 999-1004 | 1 |
| Yoshihide厳秀 | — | 1 |
| Choen長圓 | 1213-1219 | 2 |
The Muromachi period (1392 to 1573)
Muromachi turned sword making into an industry: the uchigatana rose with massed infantry warfare, Osafune and Seki produced bundle swords beside custom orders, and the Ming trade carried Japanese blades abroad by the tens of thousands.
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 siteAll swords sold for $5000 USD or less are considered final! Swords above the $5000 range may be returned for any reason within 48 hrs. Buyer will receive a full refund minus shipping/handling, insurance and or any fees incurred in shipping or sale.