These Ko-Goto menuki feature a millet design and are attributed to Goto Yujo (1st generation), Goto Sojo (2nd generation) or Goto Joshin (3rd generation) who lived and worked in the Momoyama period. The age of the menuki is noticeable in the slightly rubbed gold plating, through which the base material, shakudo, stands out. The design of “Millet” also points to a work by Goto.
NihontoWatch
Ko-Goto School
Kotō
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
Iebori · Kyoto
The term Ko-Gotō refers to works of the Gotō family from the time of the first master, Yūjō, in the Muromachi period, through approximately the fifth master, Tokujō, in the Momoyama period, for which it is not possible to determine the individual artist's personal name. These unsigned pieces represent the formative period of the Gotō house—the official metalworkers to the Ashikaga and later Tokugawa shogunates—and embody the foundational aesthetic principles that would define the school's centuries-long dominance of elite tōsōgu production. Learn more →
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 siteThese Ko-Goto menuki feature a millet design and are attributed to Goto Yujo (1st generation), Goto Sojo (2nd generation) or Goto Joshin (3rd generation) who lived and worked in the Momoyama period. The age of the menuki is noticeable in the slightly rubbed gold plating, through which the base material, shakudo, stands out. The design of “Millet” also points to a work by Goto.
NihontoWatchKo-Goto School
Kotō
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
Iebori · Kyoto
The term Ko-Gotō refers to works of the Gotō family from the time of the first master, Yūjō, in the Muromachi period, through approximately the fifth master, Tokujō, in the Momoyama period, for which it is not possible to determine the individual artist's personal name. These unsigned pieces represent the formative period of the Gotō house—the official metalworkers to the Ashikaga and later Tokugawa shogunates—and embody the foundational aesthetic principles that would define the school's centuries-long dominance of elite tōsōgu production. Learn more →
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 site
