NihontoWatchKoto Bingonokuni(kaimihara) with saber-style hilt with double-handed grip for a commissioned officer.室町時代後期、備後国・貝三原の刀工による作品です。拵は保存状態の良い日本陸軍尉官用両手握りサーベル拵で、革製の前線覆が付属しています。保存状態の良い革製前線覆付きのサーベル拵は数少なく、貴重です。This is a work by a Kai-Mihara swordsmith of Bingo Province, dating to the late Muromachi period. The koshirae is a Japanese Army junior officer’s two-handed sabre mounting in good preserved condition, and it comes with a leather field cover. Such sabre mountings with a leather field cover in good condition are scarce and valuable.★我公司可以合法地将日本刀运送到中国。【登録 Reggistration Code】昭和55年3月14日 岐阜県第56622号【種別 Category】脇差 Wakizashi【長さ Blade length】59.2cm【反り Curvature】1.6cm【目釘穴 a rivet of a sword hilt】4個 For【銘文 Signature and Date】(表)備後國 以下切【元幅 Width at the bottom part of blade】27.1mm【先幅 Width at the top]18.9mm【元重 Thickness at the bottom part of blade】7.1mm【先重 Thickness at the top】4.9mm【重量 Weight】刀身539g / Blade Just 539g.【時代 Period】室町時代後期 / Late of Muromachi period.
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Yamato-den · Bingo
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The Mihara school arose in Bingo Province during the late Kamakura period and maintained continuous production through the end of the Muromachi period. The region's ancient reputation as a center for iron goods—documented as early as Engi 14 (914) in the Seiji Yōryaku—provided the technical foundation for this sustained tradition. Because Bingo contained numerous landed estates (shōen) belonging to major Kinai temples and shrines such as Tōji and Rengeō-in (Sanjūsangendō), the smiths working at Mihara engaged in regular interchange with the central provinces. This geographical and economic relationship accounts for the pronounced Yamato temperament observable throughout the school's output. The term "Ko-Mihara" (Early Mihara) designates works produced from the late Kamakura through the Nanbokuchō period, with Masaie and Masahiro recognized as the lineage's most accomplished masters. Ko-Mihara workmanship reveals a distinctive fusion of Yamato influence and regional character. The forging typically exhibits itame-hada mixed with conspicuous mokume and flowing grain (nagare), often with a tendency for the texture to stand (hada-dachi). Fine ji-nie adheres throughout the steel surface, and a characteristic whitish cast (shirake-utsuri) appears prominently—a feature repeatedly cited in appraisals as diagnostic of the school. The tempering follows Yamato convention in emphasizing suguha, but the nioiguchi tends toward tightness (shimarigokoro) with well-adhering ko-nie rather than the more vigorous nie activity seen in Yamato proper.
Along the hardened edge, smiths frequently introduced hotsure, uchi-noke, and subtle kuichigai-ba effects, while the nioiguchi often exhibits a subdued (shizumi) quality. The bōshi typically runs straight and turns back gently in ko-maru or rounded (maru) form, concluding with fine hakikake at the tip—a restrained finish characteristic of the school. Nanbokuchō-period examples display the era's monumental aesthetic: wide mihaba with minimal taper from base to tip, shallow curvature, high shinogi, and extended chū-kissaki or ō-kissaki, creating a dignified and powerfully robust form. The school's output demonstrates how peripheral traditions absorbed and transformed influences from established centers while maintaining regional identity. Ko-Mihara blades occupy a position intermediate between the vigorous nie-work of Yamato proper and the more subdued aesthetic preferences of western Japan. This balance—robust construction paired with restrained tempering, standing grain texture combined with tight nioiguchi, and Yamato-derived suguha inflected with local characteristics—defines the school's technical achievement. The whitish forging, conspicuous mokume, and gentle bōshi became recognized signatures that distinguished Mihara work from its Yamato models. Through four centuries of continuous production, the smiths of Mihara maintained technical standards sufficient to supply both local demand and broader military markets, their works preserving a coherent school identity across generational transmission. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Nobumori信守 | 987-1596 | 0 |
| Sadakuni貞國 | 1441-1444 | 0 |
| Nobutsugu信次 | 1444-1449 | 0 |
| Nobuie信家 | 1394-1428 | 0 |
| Tomotsugu朝次 | 1394-1428 | 0 |
Yamato in the Muromachi period
The monasteries that had sustained Yamato lost ground through the Muromachi period, and the schools thinned with them; Sue-Tegai kept the old masame manner alive in quantity. The burning of Tōdaiji’s Great Buddha hall in 1567 closed the temple age.
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