Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
This katana is a work by Shinano no Kami Fujiwara Nobuyoshi, a Kyoto-based smith active in the mid-Edo period and part of the Kyō Go Kaji. It features a classic Kanbun Shintō sugata with a shallow sori and compact ko-kissaki, and a refined ko-itame hada. The blade is accompanied by a ryaku tachi koshirae with copper and yamagane fittings, and a saya finished in ishime lacquer and aogai-nuri urushi.
NihontoWatchmei · Mishina · Shoho (1644-1648) · nagasa 69.3cm · sori 0.7cm
Yamashiro · around 1644-1648
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 49%
5 pieces on the market now
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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 siteTo facilitate this, we offer a three-day inspection period. To initiate a return, you must notify us within three days of the package being delivered. Once we confirm your request, you have seven days to ship the item back to us. The item must be returned in its original condition, including all accompanying documents, certificates, and packaging materials. The buyer is responsible for covering the shipping costs and insurance for the return shipment.
